Wrap Pins.. Cool but not cheap

[Mundaysj]

Hi Everyone,

This past weekend we were pulling boats and a friend had the coolest thing on his boat.  They are cotter pins with velcro wraps that can be used on the turnbuckles.  NO more breaking nails to pull apart the rings, and trying to find the end of the tape to unravel it.  The only drawback as I see it is the expense.  At West Marine they run about $66 for 20 and I figure with the 6 shrouds and two stays I would need 16.  Has anyone seen these cheaper anywhere else? $3 a piece seems a bit much!

Thanks,
Sherie

[Craig Weis]

No I use the ss split ring circle clips for all rigging keepers. And I don't wrap tape around anything because it is NOT possible that a split ring circle circlip can snag any sail material, or my leg.

But I never pull off the standing rigging 'cept under the fuler. And those I just cut with a dike a toss away. The other clips have been through and securing the turnbuckles for years. I think it's 20 circle clips for $3?
skip.

[NateD]

I sailed with a guy this fall that had those, username fafnir on this site, and they immediately went on my list to acquire for next year. On the CP16 I only need 6 of them, but really, once I get the rig tuned I will only need to adjust the headstay when setting up the rig so I could probably get away with only 2 of them. Do you regularly need to adjust all 16 stays on a regular basis?

Here are the wrap pins at WM:
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10001&langId=-1&catalogId=10001&productId=357337

[nies]

NateD, ON MY 16,  I CHECK AT THE START OF SEASON AND KEEP A CHECK BY PINGING OCCASIONALY DURING THE YEAR. I CAN ONLY REMEMBER ONCE SINCE 1978 THAT I HAD TO ADJUST DURING THE YEAR.........PHIL 

[NateD]

nies,

    Do you drop the mast every time you sail? I keep the boat on the trailer in my garage and I have to loosen the stays to take the mast down each time I go out. So far it seems like I can keep the side stays at a constant tension and only need to tighten down the forestay when I am rigging. So I could put cotter pins (or rings as Skip suggests) in the side stays and only use the wrap pins in the forestay. When I bought the boat the previous owner had cotter pins in all of the turnbuckles, but the stays were too lose which led to some tough weather helm. I have found that I need to tension the forestay to get a little forward rake on the mast to get better balance on the helm. If I could leave the rig up all year I would only have to tension it once a year I bet. (I'm entering a lottery for a mooring next year, so I might get to test that theory, but it is a lottery, and so far I haven't won one of those, ever).

Nate

[nies]

NATE, I HAVE NOT TRAILERED FOR THE LAST TEN YEARS SINCE I LIVE ON A LAKE AND THE BOAT SITS ON A MODIFIED SHORE STATION LIFT, WITH A POWER WINCH(YES I AM A BLESSED MAN), I GET SOMEONE TO HELP AND I RISE THE MAST WITH SIDES ATTACHED, THEN STAND ON CABIN TOP AND PUT ENOUGH PRESSURE ON THE MAST FOR THE HELPER ON GROUND TO ATTACH FORESTAY. ONCE THE RIGHT TENSION IS ON THE STAYS YOU WONT HAVE TO ADJUST AGAIN AS LONG AS YOU HAVE A HELPER PUT PIN IN....AT LEAST THATS THE WAY I HAVE DONE IT , EVEN WHEN I WAS TRAILING. THERE WAS ALWAYS SOMEONE STANDING AROUND WHO WOULD LOVE TO HELP. REVERSE TO LOWER. YOU CAN PUT ENOGH PRESSURE ON MAST TO GAIN ENOUGH SLACK IN THE FORESTAY TO GET THE PIN IN OR OUT.....PHIL

[Bob23]

Sherie:
  I have not seen these. When I lower my twin's mast, I only detach the forestay and the forward lower shrouds. And I'll loosen the backstay but I don't detach it. I also don't tape my turnbuckles; instead I bought covers through Defender. They are white plastic tubes that sit over the turnbuckes and when you remove stuff, they just slide up out of the way. They look cool, too.
  Like Skip, you and others, I use stainless steel rings to secure my turnbuckles. It's a good idea to check these once in a while...last year during mast-take-down-time, we discovered one ring on one of the clevis pins on the backstay had broken and fallen out...I could've been sailing with a potential mast fall for who knows how long? It's nice to know Neptune is lookin' out for us.
  Looking forward to hearing of your adventures. Koinonia is still in...will be 'till November 14th or therabouts. Good fall sailing down here at 39.705 degrees North!
Bob23

[nies]

BOB, I ALSO USE SPLIT RINGS AND HAVE WHITE TUBES ON SIDE STAYS. I NOTCHED THE BOTTOMS TO FIT DOWN ON THE COAMING ( RUB RAIL ), LOOKS NEATER. THE TUBES ALSO PREVENT LINES FROM CATCHING ON TURN BUCKLES, A COMMON OCCURANCE WHEN I USED TO USE COTTER PINS TO SECURE TURNBUCKLES......PHIL

[Bob23]

Good idea, Phil, notching the covers. I'll do it. I just pushed 'em down till they said "uncle"!
Bob23

[fafnir]

I have two of these on my forestay and have been really happy with them.  I use snap rings on the rest of the rigging since I rarely have to adjust it, but I do have to loosen the forestay each time I raise/lower the mast.  I also have notched the plastic covers that go over the sidestays.  The only time I have ever had anything get caught it has been the jib sheets on the ring mounted to the mast that I attach a whisker pole to when going down wind. 

[Craig Weis]

dserrell With the mast locked into the tabernacle isn't a lot of stick hanging over the stern on the pulpit while going down the road? I do this too but only a few miles to my home from the launching, none of it over 30 miles per hour. And I red flag and do have somebody follow me.
skip.

[Mundaysj]

Hi all,
Nice discussion.  I only set the tension once at the beginning of the season and remove them once when I take the mast down at the end of the season.  But I think they would be nicer than the rings and tape. 
So... no one knows a cheaper place to get them?
Thanks,
Sherie

[Bob23]

Sherie:
   Maybe Defender...I haven't checked.  They do sound nice, though. 3 bucks each does sound pricey! I'd invent something myself before I'd spend that kind of dough on that kind of item.
Bob23

[Salty19]

Skip--I like your idea the best.  I've found those pesky cotter rings ready to slip off a time or two.  Some insurance that they won't accidentally come off would be a huge benefit.

Do the #7 split rings work on all areas of the 19?

For the 19, we need quite a few of them.

2 backstay
2 forestay
8 shrouds
2 bobstay (if you have the bowsprit)
2 top 'o mast rollers
? any blocks that may them (such as a downhaul block)
Anything else that needs them like halyard stand up blocks, jib downhaul blocks.maybe your genoa blocks

Cabellas has bulk packages of them (Ss split rings) for cheap.  I forget how much--something like $5 for 16 of them (thereabouts).