Short answer
Inspect standing rigging by working the whole load path in daylight: chainplate, turnbuckle, toggle, clevis pin, lower terminal, wire, upper terminal and mast tang. Clean each fitting first, then look for cracking, pitting, rust bleeding, distortion, broken strands and fittings that cannot articulate in the direction of load.
A standing-rigging inspection is a load-path inspection, not a wire inspection. The wire is usually the easiest part to see and the least likely part to fail first. Failures concentrate at terminals, at the deck penetration, and wherever a fitting is forced to bend instead of aligning with its load.
Clean before you look. Salt, polish residue and old sealant hide exactly the fine cracking and pitting that matter. A rag, fresh water and a bright torch reveal more than any tool an owner is likely to own.
Photograph each fitting the same way every year. Change between photographs is far more informative than a single snapshot, and it is the only practical way most owners will notice slow deterioration. Store the images with the rest of your rigging records.
An owner inspection has a hard limit. Fatigue cracking and crevice corrosion develop inside swage terminals, inside furler foils and under fittings, where no visual check reaches. A clean visual pass does not prove a rig is sound — see how to tell if rigging needs replacing.
Step by step
Pick the conditions
Work in daylight with the yacht head to wind and the rig at rest. Avoid inspecting a loaded rig under sail.
Clean the fittings
Wash each terminal, turnbuckle and chainplate with fresh water and dry it. Remove sealant smears that hide the swage mouth.
Work deck level first
Check chainplates, deck penetrations, turnbuckles, toggles, clevis pins and split pins, and every lower terminal.
Run the wire
Slide a cloth along accessible wire. Snags find broken strands faster than eyes do. Note any kink, flat spot or bird-caging.
Go aloft or delegate it
Check mast tangs, upper terminals, spreader roots and tips, sheaves and masthead fittings — see how to inspect a mast aloft.
Record and compare
Photograph every fitting from the same angle as last year, write down what you could not verify visually, and date the record.
Key facts
- Frequency
- At least annually; again after any heavy-weather event
- Tools
- Fresh water, cloth, bright torch, magnifier, camera
- Cannot be seen visually
- Cracking inside swages, crevice corrosion under fittings, forestay inside a furler foil
- Escalate when
- Any cracking, distortion, broken strand or seized fitting is found
Full background: read the guide
Primary sources
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