The On Deck Channelvideo
Pro Rigger: Minimum You NEED To Know About Your Sailing Rig
15 September 2024 · 34 min · 4K views · St. Petersburg
What this video covers
A professional rigger named Steven, co-owner of the Yacht Rigger and a Master Rigger, conducts a full mast and rigging inspection on a catamaran, walking through every step from deck level to masthead.0:29 The inspection follows a three-phase structure: deck-level safety check, safe-ascent preparation, and a top-down aloft inspection on the main halyard using a bosun's chair on a single line.1:34
At deck level, Steven checks the five attachment points on the catamaran rig — forestay, two cap shrouds, and two lower shrouds — examining clevis pins, cotter pins, toggles, swage fittings, and turnbuckles for cracks, corrosion, and broken strands.2:02 He explains the catamaran-specific martingale (gull striker) wire and how to sight down the bow beam to confirm it isn't bowing upward under forestay tension.5:16 Furler lower bearings are tested by hand.6:26 Swage fittings are identified as the most common failure point on a rig.7:07
Aloft, Steven checks masthead J-bolts, the VHF antenna, masthead light, all pin connections, and upper swivel bearings.20:52 He distinguishes a metal fold from a crack and flags a walking bushing in an aluminum tang as a defect requiring the shroud to be disconnected, the hole re-drilled, and the bushing reinstalled with appropriate spacers.23:12 The three things to photograph and send to a rigger: cracks, corrosion, and broken or loose wire strands.23:32
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