by GreenLake » Wed Nov 04, 2020 8:13 pm
Dyneema exhibits creep. Especially when first tensioned.
Now, I have a mast jack on my DS1, so in principle, I set the tension each time I raise the mast, however, if there's creep while out on the water it would be awkward having to adjust (although, not impossible, except perhaps in a race or when single handed). For bigger boats, the tension on the rig is constant, for trailered boats, you unload the shrouds when trailering. Will they stay stretched, or do you get the creep coming back?
How easy is it to construct shrouds of equal length? (And that maintain equal length after the initial creep has worked itself out of the system). If easy, then you can use them with a mast jack (which cannot adjust lateral tension, only overall), if not, you may have to have turnbuckles (so you can adjust each side by itself). Or a set of turnbuckles of different length, it the expected creep exceeds the range for the initial set.
All sorts of things to consider. Synthetic rigging isn't class legal, so no racing your boat - but that may not be your concern. The main advantages would be reduced weight aloft and less corrosion. The main downside is that you'd have to figure out how to put this together as there are no ready-made Dyneema shrouds.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~