Unusual rigging set up

[Brian Duff]

Hi Yawl !

Looking for opinions or expirience with an unusual rigging set up. The boat is a Beneteau 43. It has a triple spreader rig. The unusual thing is that the rig has three attachment points on deck each side, for a D1, a V1 and a masthead cap shroud. Yeah.

So The masthead cap shourd, 3/8" cable with 5/8" pins goes in a 3/4" chainplate up through all three spreader tips to the masthead with a stemball. Then there is a V1 which is 1/2" cable, 3/4" pins in 3/4" chainplate that terminates at the first spreader. From there is the D2, and a V2/D3. Then of course is the D1 which is 1/2" cable with 3/4" pins.
I haven't seen this setup before and find it a bit weird. Is there any reason its no good ?
Also weird is that the forestay is 3/8" cable with 5/8" pins (even though the boat has 3/4" forestay stemball eye and 3/4" chainplate) however the backstay is 1/2" cable with 3/4" eyes but a 5/8" Nemo backstay adjustor.

We might be starting to help set this boat up but I have been puzzling this rigging for a bit and am not sure about weather its acceptable. I suppose that when we get the job I'll start with the math, but for know I am just thinking...

any opinions ?

[Brion Toss]

Hi Brian
A nice puzzle. Discontinuous rigging, of course, is about reducing elasticity by reducing run length, so it is deeply odd to have disco on the lower pieces, and a continuous wire running to the top of the mast. My guess is that the chainplates were designed with a double-spreader rig in mind, with continuous rigging on intermediates and uppers. When they went to the triple spreader configuration, there were no longer enough chainplates for all the wires to be continuous, so they elected to go disco on the worst ones: the shortest ones. Yes, this sounds like an utterly lamebrained thing to do, but the jibstay/backstay anomaly inclines me to see it as likely. And what are they doing with 3/4" clevis pins on 1/2" wire anyway?
Fair leads,
Brion

[Brian Duff]

Brion-you are right that most were double spreader rigs, this is the 'tall rig' version. When I quoted the re-rig on estimate I proposed changing to a V1/V2 the disco from there, and a V1/D1 for the first intermediate, but still werido for sure

we'll see if I get the job and subsequent billable time to puzzle it out further...