How to Rig Everything in Your Favor || Cruising World
Learning how to inspect for small rigging problems can stop them from becoming bigger ones after you’ve left the dock.
By Jamie Gifford
March 22, 2024
As sailboat races go, the first Wednesday-night race of the season was off to a cracking start. Our crew maneuvered ungracefully prestart, and we were sloppy tacking aboard the J/35, but our winter fog lifted as we beat toward the windward mark.
Then the sailing therapy abruptly ended with a crash.
As dismastings go, this one was uncomplicated. The windward cap shroud failed at the upper T fitting. What had been installed by a rigger the week before became a mess of wires, crumpled aluminum, and torn Kevlar. I was a sailmaker at the time, and my takeaway was clear: Never trust riggers.
