Standing Rig wire sizes & mode of termaination

[Peter57]

Hi Pil and other tophatters, interesting on the wire rigging - have downloaded and will read the manual. I thought of going with stalock next time I need to re rig. Phil, when are you thinking of coming through - would be good to see you. We may get to sail your way before next year - or may not! It is simply fun to go and work on the boat. Take care. Cheers

[Phillip]

Peter,

The vague plan is to go north next year, may return via Tasmania.

Nothing planned yet, just thoughts

[Topi]

Thanks for the blue-wave link.

The gear there looks great. Will have to get some prices. The swageless terminals are the same as some listed on eBay in the UK, I had asked the seller questions about what brand they were but never got replies, they are definitely Blue Wave.

Does anyone know if BW sell direct ?

Cheers

[Shaun]

They have an Aus distributor in QLD, details inside front cover of the marine catalogue.

Gotta link Topi for the UK ebay seller so to compare them to aus prices, cheers

[Topi]

Hi Shaun

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Stainless-St ... TQ:AU:1123

They did respond this morning to the question about the brand, all thay said the terminals were made in "italy". Not quite the answer to the question. If BW bits are actually made in italy then that must be it, if not then the questions stands.

[Topi]

The Blue Wave swageless prices from the distributor in Oz are OK compared to the other two big brands, but still fairly pricey even for simple eye terminals. I have ordered some from the eBay seller in the UK, so will see what happens and let you know. I will probably use them on the forestay and am considering dyneema for some of the other rigging (that topic is posted separately).

[Shaun]

Topi, if you need any more swageless terminals....I can get good prices on Sta-Lok, PM me with sizes & i'll see what I can do

[Topi]

Topi - has a single backstay, but when I was up the mast the other day replacing it, I noticed that the masthead fitting will take twin backstays. There is another Mark 1 on KB that has dual backstays, with a pulley thing in between to vary the tension.

Thoughts please on the merits of dual backstays on a TH25 design ?

[storm petrel]

I think twin backstays would be overkill on a Top hat and they can be a pest to maintain equal tension on. I would think that the sail area of the Top hat is not reall big enough to justify using twin backstays. Phillip may have some records on this , but I have not heard of any Top hats (with well maintained rigs) that have lost their rig through failure of the backstay. Mind you if you intend to fly a big spinny when the wind in the 'brown shorts region' it might be worth considering - but a planing hull might be a better investment if you like that much downwind excitement.

[Phillip]

I think you are right Mark.

The other factor may be that twin backstays are really not suitable in small racing yachts [not enough room] with small crews
and maybe also they were going out of fashion around 1965 and Illingworth opted for the simpler method.

Some of the older members may correct that statement!

Remember the Top Hat was designed as a JOG racing yacht and as Tom has proven they can still win races and series today.

I have only heard of one Top Hat loosing its mast [racing in Sydney!] and as to what went wrong I have never found out.