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Old 09-12-2007
Valiente Valiente is offline
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Valiente will become famous soon enough
Rod rigging is great if you need its advantages of weight aloft, wind resistance, etc. But for cruising it's not necessary and its failures can be pretty spectacular. I would say if it passes survey by a qualified rigger, keep it. But if there is ANY question in ANY part of the turnbuckles, tangs, etc., go with one-size-up SS wire rigging and new fittings. It's a once-every-10 years cost, but if you are going from Florida to the Black Sea, which side of the equation do you want to be on? You can move to Norseman/Sta-Lok or equivalent terminals, which will allow you to make up a spare stay if needed aboard.

Just my opinion. I have what looks to be perfectly good 1988 5/16" SS wire stays on my steel cutter (only been in fresh water), but I will change them all before we go cruising for new stays, because 20 year old wire might make excellent spares, but I'm not going to test it against the ocean.
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