Changing turnbuckle on rod rigging

[Icarus]

I'm looking at a C&C 41 with the view to purchasing it. One of the turnbuckles on shroud stays has broken and requires replacing. How is the turbuckle likley to secured to the rod Rigging?

I have plenty of experince of swaging wire on smaller boats and Hang Gliders but Rod rigging is new to me and any advise would be much appreciated.

Pete Osborn

The first question is: does the turnbuckle have two cages and a central, double threaded stud? Or a central cage and a stud at either end?

In the first case, once the turnbuckle is apart, you should be able to slide the cage up the rod and expose the head of the rod. This is where you would chop the rod to take off the cage. In the second case, if the rod dissapears into a stud, there is threaded insert of some sort that captures the rod head. Sometimes these are secured by pins, sometimes they are "dinged" - which renders them more or less permenantly attached.

All that said, if you have to cut the rod to change a turnbuckle, it is obviously a shop job - not so much for the cutting but for the re-heading. The fact that a turnbuckle is broken, however, is cause for concern that the rod gang might be ready for a serious overhaul, inspection, etc. Lots of the central-stud variety turnbuckles had stainless studs and stainless cages which made them very suspect to galling and failure down the road.

[Icarus]

Thanks for your response, the boat has two cages and central double threaded stud, so it looks like reheading is the only way forward. Shame the nearest rigger is 500 miles north, looks like I might have to give the boat a miss

[Brian Duff]

Icarus,
You could consider just measuring for all new standing rigging and ordering it to be delivered ups or by ship to you there. I lived and worked as a rigger for a couple years in Grand Cayman, and always had an easy time working with State-side Riggers and reciveing complete packages shipped to me.