Page 209 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

sure and square the distance from this point to the careful transfer of measurements taken from vessel
chainplate on the deck plan, square the height of the or plans or both to obtain an accurate result. Trigo-
spreader above the chainplate on the sail plan, add nometry is quicker.
the two figures, hit the square-root key, and you’ll
have the distance from chainplate to spreader.
The second step is a lot simpler: Square the THE LIVERPOOL EYESPLICE
spreader length plus one-half the mast diameter at MADE DIFFICULT
the spreaders, add the square of the vertical distance
between the spreader and the shroud’s upper end, “Life is too short to splice wire rope.”
and find this square root for the length of the shroud —Bernard Moitessier,
above the spreaders. If rake is negligible, you can circumnavigator and author
scale this length directly from the rigging plan. Add
the two figures to get the total wire length. “Any idiot can do it.”
Spreader wires are the most difficult to measure —Nick Benton, master rigger
accurately and present the greatest opportunity for
error, so don’t be tempted by shortcuts. Be picky. Braiding a tremendously strong steel squid into itself
For a tang rig, measure from the mast attach- is a formidable task. But that is exactly what faces
ment of the tang down to the chainplate. When any would-be wire splicer, and it is one reason why
you’ve established total length, subtract tang length there are so few of them. Score one for Moitessier.
from the upper end and turnbuckle-and-toggle or On the other hand, a little study, preparation,
lanyard length from the lower end. and care will enable even the most slow-witted and
Given that builders do not always build what clumsy-fingered among us to produce a sound, rel-
designers design, first-hand measurements should atively painless splice. Score one for Benton, who
be made whenever possible, even if you have all the
plans. Track down and take into account any dis-
crepancies between the plans and the real thing. If,
for instance, you get a measurement of 40 feet from
the actual mast but the sail plan says 40 feet
3 inches, don’t automatically assume that the mast
height is shorter than designed; the boatbuilder
might have decided that the mast step was too
thin, installed one that was 3 inches thicker, taken
3 inches off the mast to compensate, and forgotten
to tell you. But this discrepancy will show up, if no
other changes have been made, in the distance from
step to partners.

Lofting An alternative method of rig measure-
ment involves making base and height measure-
ments, plotting them on the floor and one wall of Figure 6-16A. Poured sockets can be used as alterna-
a large room, and directly measuring the shroud or tive terminals. This is a forked version, but it is also avail-
stay length with a tape measure. This is full-scale able with single bails. Both can be used with 7 x 19,
lofting, analogous to the system boatbuilders use 7 x 7, or 1 x 19 wire, stainless or galvanized. (Margaret
to lay out hull shapes. It requires a level floor, a Wilson-Briggs)
straight wall at right angles to that floor, and the

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