Vinyl Covered Shrouds

I live in Port Orange, Florida and I usually sail at Daytona Beach. I experienced my first demasting last week and a friend of mine who also has a 16' lost his mast Monday. His shroud gave way about midway up the shroud and mine gave way right at the cable connector at the lower end. His shroud had a black vinyl cover on it and was supposedly only about a year old or so. Mine was probably 10-15 years old and was bare. I have since replaced both shrouds and my lower forestay. I've examined my upper (short) forestay and it is in good shape. My concern is that I just replaced mine with the black vinyl covered shrouds and long forestay that I purchased from Sandy Point here in South Daytona which is the local Hobie dealer, but am concerned that maybe I should remove the vinyl as I leave the boat on the beach. I take my sails home and wash them off after each use. If I start to have problems under the vinyl I may not know it until I'm 500 yards off shore with a main sail in my lap.
Any advice on whether to remove the vinyl or any other options there might be?

Thanks

I'm not sure vinyl jacketed wire has any real benefits especially around salt water. If (I should say when) you nick it and salt water gets in, the moisture stays in and you can't see the corrosion. At least with bare wire you can see where strands are failing and replace when necessary. Otherwise you should probably just replace the standing rigging every four or five years to be safe. Maybe sooner around salt water. I can't say there is any real rule of thumb though. One Nacra and another Hobie guy I sail with, like yours, went ten years with the same rigging.

I de-masted last year and I had the same situation where my shroud broke at the swage at the mast tang. At first I thought corrosion, but when I looked at where it broke, I saw none. I think my problem was that my rigging wasn't tightened enough which created some slack in the shroud. With that little bit of slack, I am guessing that when I changed tack, the shock load on the shroud caused it to fail.
To correct this, I purchased an Aussie Jib rig so I am certain my shrouds are tight. I haven't had any problems since.
I hope that helps!
Thanks!

_________________
Eric Weller
2006 F18 Capricorn
1980 H16
Keep the pointy side up!

The wire is vinyl-coated for a couple of reasons - the biggest of which is that it prevents sail abrasion. Before the boats came with vinyl coated wire, we used to buy the "slip-on" wire covers to prevent the wires from wearing through the sail on the batten pockets.

They are also much more "human friendly". You know what I mean if you're ever fallen against a bare wire in a pitchpole.

The wires are over sized to the point where they are made to take the shock loading caused by slack in the shrouds. Over tightening the rig with the Aussie halyard will just make the mast hard to rotate. What more likely happened, given that the break occurred at the mast tang, was that the wire got bent (easy to do if it's not installed properly or aligned correctly), then was straightened out by tension. Which side of the swage did the wire break on? Thimble or standing part?

Sorry for not using the correct terminology but mine broke right above the portion of the wire that was clamped at the end near the hull. The thimble section was still in the stay adjuster and had signs of corrosion.

When I de-masted, my shroud broke about 1/2" below the swage at the mast tang. It was a Hobie shroud, (my dealer changed all of my standing rigging when I bought my boat) and it was only 1 year old.

I tighten my Aussie halyard just enough that both shrouds are tight without the sail being raised. I do however, get some slack on leeward shroud on a reach. Am I tightening it too much?
Thanks!

_________________
Eric Weller
2006 F18 Capricorn
1980 H16
Keep the pointy side up!

You are not overtightening your shrouds/jib halyard. You should be able to pull on the halyard as hard as you want without causing damage. The leeward shroud always goes slack regardless of how much rig tension you run because when you tighten the mainsheet (and downhaul), you bend the mast, so the distance between the mast tang and the mast step becomes shorter.

The only reasons your shroud should break the way you describe would be if it was damaged (kinked), overloaded (sailing with 4 people in 30 knots), or defective (that would be my guess). I'd call the dealer and let them know what happend, most Hobie parts come with a 1-year warranty.

sm