[Public-List] Alberg 30 Rig Weak Links

[C.B. Currier]

I suggest that the order of quality to shroud terminals in terms of
quality is :

Best: Sta-loc / Norseman / Hayne fittings truly lock the mire into a
permanant but maintainable lock. Terminal can be reused with new cones.

Better: Swedged terminals - They can fail unexpectedly and due to work
hardening may remain brittle and are subject to the work quality of the
rigger.
Base: Nico Press work well some do not like them as they are not as
attractive and may have the same issues as the swedged terminals.


Based on the assumption for som of you that you could fix the mast beam
- school of thinking - the use of nico press sleevs is fine for another
40 years despite what the experts say.

On Infinity I have replaced all of the nico press sleeves with norsemen

C.B. Currier
Infinity #57
Daybreak #458

On Sun, 2010-01-17 at 15:19 +0000, crufone at comcast.net wrote:
> 
> John, 
> 
> Would you recommend that I not sail the boat until the Nicro Press fittings are replaced. 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "John Birch" <Sunstone at cogeco.ca> 
> To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" <public-list at lists.alberg30.org> 
> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:17:10 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] Alberg 30 Rig Weak Links 
> 
> Actually Michael, I believe nicro presses are copper, not bronze. 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: <crufone at comcast.net> 
> To: "Alberg, Public List" <public-list at alberg30.org> 
> Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 10:00 AM 
> Subject: [Public-List] Alberg 30 Rig Weak Links 
> 
> 
> > 
> > John Birch wrote, 
> > Harry was of the opinion that the Alberg masts suffered from a lack of the 
> > compression tube and was critical of the excessive number of holes Whitby 
> > had in the area of the spreaders including installing the steaming light 
> > so 
> > close to the spreaders. 
> > Also, if you have nicro presses on your shrouds at the mast head and 
> > spreader bases instead of proper terminals, there is a unanimous consensus 
> > from Harry, Danny and every surveyor I know that this is a bad bad bad 
> > practice. They should be swaged terminals at least, norseman or staloc's 
> > being much much better. 
> > 
> > Best 
> > John 
> > 
> > John; great information to have indeed, 
> > Oh NO another item to address on my #133. All of my Standing rigging has 
> > the bronze Nicro Press fittings installed. In most cases there is only one 
> > crimp fitting per terminal. I say that they are bronze because they have a 
> > slight green colouration. All the wire and the fittings look to be in 
> > Excellent condition. I was going to wait a couple of seasons before 
> > replacing the wire rigging, but now you have me concerned. I had not heard 
> > from the Alberg group that the Nicro Press fittings failed and were 
> > generally "bad News". 
> > Another item not mentioned is the aft chain plate for the aft stay. I 
> > would think with all this talk about the Dynamic loads while sailing that 
> > one should inspect that fitting as well as the shroud chain plates. 
> > I wonder if the 1/4" bolts are adequate but should be inspected regularly 
> > and replace every 5 years or so. There are many items on our boats that 
> > owners do not inspect for fatigue at regular enough intervals. Your talk 
> > of the cycling effect on the accumulation of fatigue makes me think that 
> > we should all have a check list of regular inspections/replacements. 
> > I agree that the cast aluminum mast head fitting appears to be a weak 
> > link. Many production sailboats used them. I know of NO rig failure of an 
> > Alberg 30 because of the mast head fitting failure. Do you know of any? 
> > Some years ago I purchased a 1966 Seafarer and asked the previous owner 
> > when he last had the mast down. He responded not since he had brought the 
> > boat to Florida and that was about 30 years ago!! I decided to unstep the 
> > mast at my earliest opportunity. 
> > Thanks for you most helpful comments 
> > Michael #133 
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> 
> 
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