Sailboat Rigging:
Part 1 - Standing Rigging

When we talk about sailboat rigging, we mean all the wires, ropes and lines that support the rig and control the sails. To be more precise, the highly tensioned stays and shrouds that support the mast are known collectively as standing rigging, whilst the rope halyards, sheets and other control lines come under the heading of running rigging.

Probably not the best image to illustrate an article about standing rigging, as this sailboat - a Freedom 44 cat ketch - with its unsupported masts, doesn't have any...

Some sailboats with unsupported masts, like the junk rig and catboat rigs have no standing rigging at all.

Bermudan sloops with their single mast and just one headsail will have a relatively simple rigging layout - those with a single set of spreaders especially so.

The most complex rigging of all will be found on staysail ketches and schooners with multi-spreader rigs.

This staysail ketch - a Bowman 57 - needs a network of standing rigging to support its two masts...

Fairly obviously, the mast on a sailboat is an important bit of kit.

Let's make a start by taking a look at the standing rigging that holds it up...

Standing Rigging

Cruising sailboats will have their mast supported by 1 x 19 stainless steel wire in most cases, but some racing boats may opt for stainless steel rod rigging. Why? Well rod rigging has a stretch coefficient that is some 20% less than wire, but...

It's more expensive than wire;

It's more difficult to install and adjust;

It suffers from metal fatigue, signs of which are difficult to spot;

It's less flexible and has a much shorter useful life span

So it's 1 x 19 stainless steel wire for us cruising types.

sketch showing main elements of standing rigging on sloop sailboat

The primary rigging components that hold the mast up

Cap Shrouds

These are the parts of a sailboat's rigging that hold the mast in place athwartship. They're attached at the masthead and via chainplates to the hull.

Lower Shrouds

Further athwartship support is provided by forward and aft lower shrouds, which are connected to the mast just under the first spreader and at the other end to the hull.

Stays

The mast is supported fore and aft by stays - the forestay and backstay to be precise.

Cutter rigs require an inner forestay upon which to hang the staysail, which unlike a removable inner forestay, becomes an element of the overall rig structure.

As this stay exerts a forward component of force on the mast, it must be resisted by an equal and opposite force acting aft - either by swept-back spreaders, aft intermediates or running backstays.

Another stay that deserves a mention is the triatic backstay. This is the stay that is found on some ketches, and it's the stay from the top of the mainmast to the top of the mizzen mast.

It's a convenient alternative to a independent forestay for the mizzen. Although it makes a great antenna for an SSB radio, it does ensure that if you lose one mast, you're likely to lose the other.

Multi-Spreader Rigs

With the lower shrouds supporting the mast athwartship at the lower spreaders, intermediate shrouds do the same thing for any other sets of spreaders. These take the form of a diagonal tie between the inner end of one spreader and the outer end of the spreader below it.

Continuous or Discontinuous Sailboat Rigging

The shrouds on all single-spreader rig and some double-spreader rigs are continuous. With three or more spreaders, this arrangement becomes impractical - discontinuous rigging is the way to go. So what's that?

Well, if you consider the mast rigging as a series of panels, ie:~