When to replace rigging

I have a Hobie 17. I noticed that the rigging seems to be a little loose. Is this normal? It's most obvious when my boat is parallel to a wave and my sail is unpowered. The mast swings back and forth and it seems to put shock stress on the shrouds. Not sure if this is normal or if I should buy new rigging. Any advice would be great. Thanks

The rigging on a Hobie 17 has to be a bit loose to allow the mast to rotate when sailing downwind (you'll notice that the leeward shroud wraps around the mast when doing that).

If the rigging is looser than you want, you can always tighten it up a bit by moving the shroud ends down in the adjusters on each side (that's what they're for) and/or the forestay adjusters in the front.

To answer your question about when to replace the rigging, in many cases, it can be a bit of a grey area. You should inspect your rigging annually as a minimum. If you sail a lot in heavy conditions, in salt water, leave the boat with the mast up for long periods, or are generally hard on the rigging, it should probably be replaced every few years. For light duty use, the rigging can last many years. Any rigging with broken wire strands, kinks, heavy corrosion, cracks, or wear should be replaced immediately. These types of defects can significantly reduce the strength of the cable assembly. If you just purchased a used boat and are not sure when the rigging was replaced last, it is usually a good idea to replace the rigging.

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That's good insight. Thank you both

I replace my whole standing rigging every 5 years and use 5/32 coated wire. Even with this replacement schedule I've been de-masted twice due to rigging failure. I sail only fresh water, but sail in higher wind and I sail a lot, over 1000 miles last year.