Not a wire in sight

Ted Rogers' detailed explanation of the composite rigging on his International 14.

Following our Experts question on using PBO for standing rigging in a dinghy , San Francisco based International 14 sailor, and Daily Sail reader, Ted Rogers sent in this detailed account (pictures below):

I've been using Vectran for all shrouds on my I-14 for about 18 months. The primary drivers to switch from wire were cost, ease of replacement, and it facilitated rigging a new mast with bonded fittings that didn't require any holes in the tube.

The primary cost of wire shrouds on dinghies is not in the wire but in the end fittings and swaging, often $15-20 per end, which on a 14 with uppers, mains, and lowers, and a forestay quickly adds up to $200-300 for a set of shrouds. Most of the 14 rigs further require the shrouds to be swaged in place, after the wire is fed through the spreader tips. At venues like the Gorge, or Bermuda, where we had our last Worlds, lack of transportation or distance to the nearest rigger can make a wire failure an un-recoverable mishap.In 12-plait Vectran, even at $1 per foot (4mm), material for a set of shrouds is about $100, splicing a new shroud takes less that half an hour with minimal tools, and the splice can be passed through the spreader tip if necessary.

About 18 months ago I bought a Bieker mast as a tube plus parts, to assemble myself. As a mechanical engineer, the thought of drilling and cutting holes for t-ball fittings in a perfectly pristine carbon tube was too much to bear. So I made up some very low profile carbon tangs, bonded them in place, then shackled on Vectran shrouds. Having dispensed with nearly every bit of stainless steel in the rig, the new rig is 20 lb all-up. My old rig was 28 lb, with a bunch of holes in the tube! We've sailed a windy Bermuda Worlds, a Gorge Regatta, and numerous days on San Francisco Bay in the last year and a half with no issues. Material cost of the rigged mast is the $1200 cost of the tube and spreaders from Bieker, $50 for a luff track, about $100 in carbon and epoxy for fittings, $100 for shrouds, and $150 for halyards and a the few remaining fittings. $1600 for a new rig, though certainly some personal labor as well. But all in all, lighter, cheaper, stronger, and easier to maintain......

As for Vectran vs. PBO, I've used Vectran because it's a relatively known quantity with good UV and abrasion resistance, and readily available. The tradeoff is that for good performance, it must be sized for the same stretch as the wire it replaces, not the same strength. So 3mm wire replacement means 4mm Vectran. (Though after initial stretching, it's really closer to 3.5mm.) The side benefit is that the 3mm wire breaks at 1900 lb, while the 4mm Vectran breaks at 3200 lb. So the Vectran is fairly tolerant of nicks and abrasion in this application. My intent has always been to switch to PBO, because its stretch is essentially the same as the same diameter wire, so 3mm wire would become 3mm PBO, which would also be 2x as strong. But the UV issues and lack of readily availabe 3mm and 2mm sizes has made this an uncertain prospect that would require some homework to solidly implement.

Ted Rogers
I-14 US 1140
San Francisco

The gooseneck, showing the bonded fittings


At the spreader ends the shrouds pass through a simple plastic tube


The lower shroud attachment


The hounds


The masthead (side view)


The masthead (front view)