Wire Rope, Thimbles & Turnbuckles

A mast should not be trimmed stiff. In practice, the standing rigging requires a certain degree of flexibility. Stainless steel wire rope combines high strength with low stretching and sufficient flexibility. Galvanized wire rope is a little less strong for the same diameter, but has less tendency to stiffen and clearly shows warning signs of corrosion and weakening. On traditional ships, wire ends are fitted with spliced or pressed thimbles. In the yacht sector, terminals in the form of fork terminals or eye terminals are more commonly used. A cone with …

… crown ring enables very simple and safe fitting to the wire with on-board means - without milling and pressing. Thimbles and terminals should be at least as strong or at best slightly stronger than shrouds and stays. This also applies to turnbuckles, tensioning screws or deadeyes, as well as to connective elements such as shackles and bolts, and universal swivels such as toggles. Turnbuckles consist of a sleeve with two screwed-in counter-rotating threaded pins. The material used is stainless steel, galvanized steel or bronze.