I bought a 1976 H16 a couple of summers ago, hadn't had time to mess with it much due to house projects. The cat had been sitting outside in central NC when I bought it. Not bad shape. My question is, should the shroud wires be replaced as a preventive maintenance measure, or is this not a problem with this boat? The shroud wires were outside with everything else. I will be replacing all ropes/sheets. Any other advice as to items that should be replaced due to age or just periodically are welcome. Thanks for the input.

If the shrouds are coated, do yourself a favor and strip the protective coating off down to bare wire and scrutinize, it has been my experience that the coating does more damage by trapping moisture, especially if it has been sailed in salt water, and does a good job of hiding the rust. If you are unaware of the age of the shrouds, the shrewd sailor would go ahead and replace all standing rigging. No quicker way for a day of sailing to go bust than when a shroud goes, and drops your your mast.

R

dis masting is the most memorable form of cat sailor initiation.

If you are replacing sheets... may as well replace standing rigging as well. saltydogmarine.com sells rigging kits as well as sheet kits.