Recommendations for Mechanical Terminals (Norseman, Staylok, HiMod?)

[botanybay]

I am just in the process of replacing all of the wire on the mast of my Oyster 55 which is mostly 12mm (or 1/2 inch), a small amount of 10mm (or 3/8 inch), and a couple of 9/16" pieces (14mm?) as a part of a spar rebuilding process for preventative maintenance (the vessel is 20 years old).

The question I have been struggling with is which mechanical fastener to use, I have used Staylok in the past on smaller (35' vessels), the Norseman fittings look very nice, the HiMod fitting looks like an interesting fitting but with a shorter track record.

I am starting from scratch, replacing everything in the rigging from the chainplates up, suggestions (especially with thoughts about why) would be very helpful. I plan to use the boat for as long as my previous boat (19 years) and expect to replace the wire one or two additional times using these fittings during the next 20+ years. Thus a strong consideration is long term availability of the parts.

A significant additional consideration is being able to use either metric wire or Imperial/SAE wire if pressed (I realize this requires different cones for most sizes). In the case of Norseman it may be a different cone on the 3/8 vs 10mm and 1/2 vs 12mm and the same cone for the 9/16 vs 14mm but this is not clear from their website (NavTec). For Staylok the online information appears to be fairly clear that while the wedges are different for the 3/8 vs 10mm and the 1/2 vs 12mm that the wedges are identical for 9/16 vs 14mm. I can't make heads or tails out of the Hayn site with regard to HiMod fittings. If I am mistaken on any of these observations please let me know. I have sent e-mail to Hayn to see if they can provide some clarity on the issue.

Thank you for the thoughts and consideration.

David

p.s. I did try the search function but could not find the information I was looking for

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Especially with the fairly large wire you need, Norseman is out of the running. Harder to form, weakens the wire more than the competition. I'm very reluctant even to install them any more.
Sta-Lok is a very good second choice. Fairly easy to form with big wire, easily sealed, fairly strong. And great customer support from the importer, Sailing Services.
Hayn, though is the winner. They make the only terminal that is 100% strength efficient. Sta-Loks typically break in the 90's -- and has anyone seen any Norseman results higher than the 80's? -- and they are very easy to assemble, as you do not bend the yarns, and there is a nifty castellated spacer for the yarns to settle into during assembly. Also the prettiest terminal. Many places sell them for much more than the competition, but if you shop around you can get comparable prices.
As for the wedge issue, Hayn is also quite strong on customer service. Give 'em a call.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[botanybay]

Thanks Brian!

I ended up going with the Stay-Lok as I have used them previously for smaller rigging and that they have been around for awhile. It turns out Oyster uses the StayLok at the moment as the baseline for the 575 and below which means easy access to parts when cruising (Oyster customer service is amazing!)

I was very torn considering the HyMod fittings but decided to go with something with a bit longer track record at this point. I also looked at the cost of the wedges to go back and forth between metric and imperial, their wedges (which are reuseable) are rather expensive compared to the StayLok wedges. The castellated spacer is the same for metric and imperial for the sizes I am looking at. It was definitely a close call at this point to go either way.

Thank you again for your recommendations. I really appreciate your feedback.

[edzacko]

has anyone seen any Norseman results higher than the 80's? --

Hello Brion

I am new to this forum and a little reluctant to comment however--when we were building our boat 30 some years ago, all of these mechanical fittings were just coming on the market. I also was new to all of this and distrusted NOT the Norseman fittings but MY ability to assemble one properly.
We had a friend who ran at a big testing lab at Columbia U in NYC that had a three story dynamometer and could pull test anything. He invited us down to test our fittings.

We had 7/32 1x19 with my first ever Norseman--it was a 30 ft piece of wire with a fork on one end(the weaker?) and an eye on the other
--
-the fitting held with a steady pull to 7200 lb then--just because he could---he did a bounce test to simulate falling off a wave. He bounced from 7200 to 0 and immediately back to 7800-----still held.

On the 8th cycle of this madness he held it at 7800 and was just about to "pull to destruction" when the wire started to strand out and failed.
The wire gave but the Norseman held.

Then--just to see what was what---I dis-asembled the fitting and pried off the cone---none too delicately I might add---butchering it a bit in the process---re-assembled the whole thing and went at it again---
It still held to 7800 lb but the wire broke after three bounces but the OLD cone held.

Then--at the testers suggestion(he was new to all of these fitting s as well---we Started with a new cone, made up the eye and then "unscrewed and removed the eye" and re-tested just on the wedge----Voila---it Slipped at 7000 lb---no bounce this time.

I have never lost any sleep over the Mechanical fitting concept.
Ed Zacko