Less is More

This morning I came to the following conclusion:

Dinghy sailboats tend toward rationality because they were rooted in the working class

Sailing yachts come from a tradition of extravagance, large crews, and many people working for you—a world not just of millionaires, but of billionaires; the higher you go, the more extravagant.

 

Eric Hiscock ...

A century ago, it seems the combined strength of the shrouds could withstand 1/3 (!?) of the yacht's displacement

Today, we ultimately calculate that one shroud can withstand the displacement at maximum load

Why weren't more rigs breaking in 1925 ?

I imagine it's due to the flexibility of the assembly: wood masts, cables, and turnbuckles

I can't find any other explanation

 

It's shocking how much these things cost, and this is just the small one for 2-5 mm lines; the larger one is outrageously expensive

So instead of 6 mm line with a Dyneema core... 5 mm of pure Dyneema

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There are very cheap gadgets for tennis racket strings and bicycle spokes; but I don't think they'll work for me.

 

On the other hand, I've seen that Starlink Mini is affordably priced: €250 for the device and €40 per month for coverage up to 12 miles offshore. The antenna measures 30 cm x 25 cm

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And the installation is simple: cut the flimsy cable it comes with, and increase the voltage from 12 to, for example, 30 volts.

 

Lanolin.

People are expected, more so by insurance, to replace stainless rigging every what 10-20 years?
Galv wire rope will last longer, BUT, it does need to be maintained. The great advantage, you KNOW when it should be replaced.
Having lost a forestay mid-Atlantic at a fitting that looked almost "good as new", I am very wary of old stainless.
My internal jury is still out on dyneema......

 

Yes, starlink is a must so you can continue to watch youtube and post to forums while sailing to the Azores.
Tech has become absurdly cheap compared to past options.

 

"Lanolin"

"the threads of galvanised steel rigging screws (...) I used lanoline (...) but it is not a lubricant"

Eric Hiscock

Maybe ... white lithium grease

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The great utility of the Starlink Mini, in my opinion, lies in its access to Google's satellite map, which, very close to the coast, surpasses any other cartography, plus its general communication uses.

 

The problem with Dyneema

was that you couldn't tie knots because it would slip, but ingenious knots have been invented. Even so, tying a knot reduces the breaking strength by 50%

The other problem was degradation from sunlight; now they're sold coated with a protective layer, like paint, and anyway:

A) they're so strong that nothing would happen if the outer layer degraded, and

B) it's very very easy to replace, and 5 mm is cheap

 

35 cm inside (= 70 x 5 mm) plus the section (taper) of, for example, 15 cm where it gradually narrows by cutting threads until only one thread remains.

This is to prevent it from breaking abruptly at the step formed.

It's also important to prevent it from coming loose when there's no tension.

There are several methods.

I like the idea of sewing it with a fine thread and protecting the fine thread with adhesive tape.

 

I will have a free standing mast, but like the luggers of yore, the yard halyard can be doubled to a block and made off aft on the opposite side of any chute i would deploy in lighter weather.

The easy splicing of dyneema is certainly a feature, but i never had any simple "Flemish eye splice" in wire rope slip either.

 

Your rigging loads on your 1 ton surfboard will be much higher. I could probably get away with pre-stretched polyester. Not done a price comparison for many years. The rope is certainly eaiser to stow than wire.

 

Rather than use wire, i was debating using dyneema as a luff rope for a furling headsail. Much easier to sew the sail to dyneema. Not so sure about excessive twist when furling.

 

Yes

a great invention

Because it slides so smoothly with low friction, it's perfect for a Stay and the StaySail shackles

UHMWPE

Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-molecular-weight_polyethylene

Dynamis

Force in classical Greek

 

"going soft on shackles" (practical sailor)

 

What I don't understand is why they are so expensive if they are so easy to build nowadays with so much information available