Re Rigging a schooner with SS7x7 Nicopress

[stevesailor]

Hello

I'm crewing on a Tom Colvin junk-rigged Doxy that needs to have its standing rigging re-done. The former rigging, now 38 years old, is 7x7 stainless with spliced soft eyes aloft around the mast and spliced
thimbles where it meets the turnbuckles. Colvin in his books suggests 7x7 galvanized, painted with two part paint, and nicopressed swages. The captain wants to do 316 stainless 7x7 or 7x19, and nicopress eyes.

I've read a bunch from books and the internet (including this forum) about nicopress fittings, most of the topics talk about how it's not appropriate to do for 1x19. I'm wondering what people's feelings are about copper or copper/zinc sleeves on stainless 7x7 or 7x19. There's a bunch of information saying it retains 100% breaking strength "when pressed correctly." I'm wondering if this pressing is done with the clamp tools, or with hydralics (if you can nicopress sleeves that way).

I understand that spliced eyes are stronger, no one aboard knows how to splice wire or has the tools (plus I'm under the understanding you need to do them for quite a while before you can start trusting them). The boat is a 50ft junk rig schooner, so lower tension than a marconi. Would it be appropriate to use nicopress fittings to secure the eyes and thimbles? Why or why not? What other alternatives could work (take into consideration staylok etc won't work for the soft eye splices around the mast)? How do nicopresses commonly fail if they do?

Thanks for all the information thus far and I look forward to the responses.

-Steve