[mbowser]

I am about to redo my standing rigging and have a question regarding the forestay. I will be using a toggle at the lower end of wire (Hayn HiMod), but I had an eye swaged at the top. Should I add a toggle to the top as well? Will I be doomed if I don't?

I am going from roller furling back to hank on, so I can't just replicate exactly what was there, but the furler didn't have a toggle on top if that matters.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mbowser]

Thanks BubbleHeadMD, I understood the reasoning behind using the toggle, but wasn't sure if it was necessary to have them top and bottom since my roller furling unit never had a top toggle. I think you confirmed my suspicion that it really is a good idea. The reason I questioned it to begin with was that my roller furling unit doesn't have one at the top, but the rotating nature of furling forestays may negate that need.

 

[mbowser]

toggles top and bottom is a must do on 99 percent of furler installations not only for letting the wire sag to leeward and give but to helpe prevent twisting and fatigue from furling in heavy winds etc..

2 toggles is always best but if your just using hank on a toggle on bottom is absolutely fine...

thats what I have...

cheers

That makes my decision to go back to hanks that much easier. The RF was installed by a previous owner and I never really liked it. I never felt like I could get the best shape I could out of the sail, and when the wind piped up and I got overpowered, I would have to fall off the wind or attempt to partially roll up the jib which completely ruined any shape.

The fact that the RF had no toggle at the top leads me to believe that it was probably wearing prematurely as well so replacing all of it is a good thing.

 

[mbowser]

cool...yeah In general terms Im not a fan of roller furling but I understand its benefits but I also know there are many many many amateur and "pro" installations that are done badly inlcuding badly sized forestay or no toggles etc...

stays on furlers in general terms should be replaced twice as often as hank on stays...

so that translates to roughly every 5 years...

another issue I hate about most roller furlers is the inaccesability of the riggng under, most owner dont want to dissasemble the unit in order to check the condition of the swages or terminals etc...

I agree 100% regarding roller furlers and much of what you say is why I am going back to hank on. They are convenient though.

Im also a fan of swaged stay up top and mechanical on bottom...a swaged up top wont suffer much crevice corrosion since water and stuff wont trickle into it, you save some money and you can get the exact forestay length for your boat with the use if any mechanical terminal you want

norseman, hayn, staylock etc...

Also, 100% agreed and was the reason I chose the swage-on-top route.

Thanks for the advice.