Should I consider rod rigging for my Martin 241?

Phil Garland answers...

Phil was the winning navigator in the 1989 and 97 Fastnet Races and a two-time Mumm 30 North American champion. He has recently joined the Etchells class where he finished second in the 2003 Midwinter Series. Phil's focus on the racecourse is legendary, as is his understanding of rigs and rigging. He tests new ideas on his other boat, the Quest 33 Samba, and is constantly searching for new and better rigging products to complement Hall spar technology. Hall Spars & Rigging manufactures high-performance, autoclave-cured carbon fibre masts, booms, spinnaker poles, and reaching struts for boats from 40 feet LOA to Super Yachts. Hall Spars & Rigging introduced autoclave curing to spar making in 1992, and lead the industry in tonnage of autoclave-cured laminates. Hall’s knowledge, experience, and processes are unrivalled. Hall’s 100% autoclave curing has no equal when it comes to ensuring strength by eliminating voids and optimising fibre straightness. With factories in the U.S. (20-meter autoclave) and Holland (40-meter autoclave), Hall creates spars for clients around the world. Hall is the provider of spars to Alinghi, Swiss Challenger for America¹s Cup 2003.

Bob Stayton, USA
I am re rigging my Martin 241 and replacing the runners with permanent rigging connected to a new ring frame. The Martin (built in Vancouver BC) has wire rigging and single spreaders. It is there an advantage to having rod rigging and 2 a second set of spreaders?


Bob,

There is some advantage to rod rigging vs. wire. For the same breaking strength, the rod has slightly less stretch and a smaller diameter.

For a 24' boat, I don't usually recommend rod unless you are competing on an international level. For higher performance, I suggest Dyform rigging wire, which has less stretch than standard 1 x 19 wire. Dyform also uses the same terminal fittings as wire, which may make the conversion easier than rod. Dyform is regularly used on J-24s and Etchells.

As far as the rig geometry and your question of double spreaders vs.single: usually the size of the mast section dictates the number of spreaders (a smaller section may require an extra set of spreaders to provide adequate athwartships support). Extra spreaders and the associated extra rigging presents more windage, which in your case would probably not be an advantage unless you changed the mast section itself. And, depending on the size of jibs you use, you may be able to sheet an overlapping jib in tighter with the single spreader setup.

Good Sailing,

Phil Garland

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