REPORT FROM THE ANNAPOLIS BOAT SHOW: PART TWO: THIS SHOW IS RIGGED!

Wandering around the Annapolis Boat Show there were the usual retailer sellers like West Marine and others. There were also a lot of manufacturers with their own booths:

Then there are some interesting specialized booths like the one below primarily selling anchoring sails:

There was also lot of hardware and rigging available at the show. But, since I have an unstayed Nonsuch 30 they really had nothing to offer me. But, if you happened to be sailing along in the Caribbean and all of sudden your mast fall down and go boom then you probably would be interested in looking at this boat:

It's a Yawl rigged with synthetic rigging from Colligo Marine:

Since buying my Nonsuch catboat I no longer concern myself with worrying about things like shrouds, chainplates etc... But, I have seen or heard about a number of rigging failures on other boats. So I post this for others who might be interested in just how this new way of rigging ones boat can help eliminate some of the metal fittings and cable previously relied upon to keep the mast standing vertical above the deck:

It looks easy enough to rig and no concerns about crevice corrosion. It seems to tension the rigging you just take the line to a winch and tighten it. The folks at Colligo booth had a large selection of thimbles and eyes to help rig the boat using this system:

  According to my discussions the synthetic line should last at least five years minimum. Seems like a good alternative to stainless usually used on board. Spare rigging would be easier and lighter to carry on board too. Plus it could also be used as spare for other purposes like running rigging. Looking at the Colligo site I could see a use for synthetic line even on my unstayed boat. I am thinking about replacing the lifelines and using synthetic life lines like those offered by Colligo might be the way to go.

TO BE CONTINUED