Three riggers three opinions

[Bob Pingel]

I would replace the rigging based on it being OLD, the boat being in the tropics, and that you are comtemplating going offshore.

First off, use the "right" strength rigging for the boat. Oversized wire is not a good thing. You can determine the right rigging by using the methods described in Brion's book.

Second, you will be constrained by the existing clevis pin fittings on the boat and spar. This will constrain the choice of wire size and metric vs non.

I would not recommend PBO for your boat and use. The costs are still extreme and I don't think weight aloft is a big factor for your boat. I recently did a headed PBO backstay for a raceboat, and the cost was 4-5x greater than what it would have been with 1x19 and staloks.

I would start by running the numbers per Brion's book. From there I would gather up all of pins sizes and see how they map to the wire sizes. If everything lines up, you are good to go.

I'd inspect the chainplates and tangs etc for any corrosion, damage, etc while you are at it.

I like mechanical terminals vs swages for a variety of reasons, especially in the tropics. StaLoks are my tried and true favorites, but the Hayn terminals look interesting.

Bob