Guard Wires, Guardrails and Guardrail Webbing

Guard Wires and Guard Rails (sometimes confusingly alluded to as Lifelines) act as a safety fence around your yacht, providing security against accidentally falling overboard.

The Jimmy Green Rigging Team are very experienced in completing Custom Made Guard Wires and Guardrails, made to your bespoke requirements, in stainless steel wire or in wire replacement options: Dyneema fibre rope or webbing.

Stainless Steel Guard Wires are prepared to your individual measurements and terminated on state of the art Wireteknik Roller swaging machines or for terminations around a thimble, on genuine Cabco Talurit Hydraulic presses in the Jimmy Green Rigging Workshop.

Dyneema Fibre Guard Rail Lines are spliced to length in the Jimmy Green Splicing Centre, the hub of our Custom Rigging Service operation. Dyneema Lifelines are available to order online in 5mm or 6mm diameter in a choice of ropes - LIROS D Pro Static or Hampidjan DynIce Dux.

Webbing (wire replacement) Guardrails are produced to order, in house, by the Jimmy Green Sewing Team, on a state of the art, automatic profile, heavy duty industrial Ultra-Sew machine using a tested and proven stitch pattern so you can rely on their strength and durability.

Webbing Guardrails can be more comfortable to lean against than guard wires:

45mm colourfast yellow or blue high tenacity, UK manufacture, UV stabilised 100% polyester webbing

Optional Stainless steel triangles fitted onto Sewn Loops

Wire, Fibre and Webbing Strength Comparison:

4mm 1 x 19 stainless steel wire, KOS MBL = 1400kg 5mm 1 x 19 stainless steel wire, KOS MBL = 2000kg

High Tenacity 45mm width Polyester Guard Rail Webbing, UK Manufacturer Break Load 3000kg

LIROS Break Load for D Pro Static - 5mm = 2450kg, 6mm = 4050kg

N.B. All wire/rope splicing and sewing marginally reduces the breaking strain of the finished product.

Hampidjan publish a Spliced Break Load i.e. the strength of the line after it has been spliced DynIce Dux Spliced Break Load - 5mm = 4.3 tonnes, 6mm = 6.1 tonnes

Wire, Fibre and Webbing Stretch Comparison for the purpose of setting up Guardrails:

• 1x19 stainless steel wire - zero stretch
• LIROS D Pro Static – Near zero elongation and creep
• Hampidjan DynIce - Near zero constructional stretch and creep
• High tenacity polyester webbing – 15% to 20% elongation at rupture suggests an estimated 2.5% stretch at the likely loads associated with breaking a fall -  this equates to approximately 2 inches on a 2 metre section replaced by webbing between stanchions or between a stanchion and the pushpit rail.

Replacing your Guard Wires and Guardrails, a step by step guide