On a sailing

Sailing

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...

 boat, standing rigging generally refers to lines, wires, or rods which are more or less fixed in position while the boat is under sail. This term is used in contrast to running rigging

Running rigging

Running rigging is the term for the rigging of a sailing vessel that is used for raising, lowering and controlling the sails - as opposed to the standing rigging, which supports the mast and other spars....

, which represents elements of rigging which move and change fairly often while under sail. Standing rigging is placed under tension to keep the various spars (mast

Mast (sailing)

The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall, vertical, or near vertical, spar, or arrangement of spars, which supports the sails. Large ships have several masts, with the size and configuration depending on the style of ship...

, bowsprit

Bowsprit

The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow. It provides an anchor point for the forestay, allowing the fore-mast to be stepped farther forward on the hull.-Origin:...

) securely in position and adequately braced to handle loads induced by sails. On modern yachts, standing rigging is often stainless steel

Steel

Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...

 wire, stainless steel rod or synthetic fiber

Synthetic fiber

Synthetic fibers are the result of extensive research by scientists to improve on naturally occurring animal and plant fibers. In general, synthetic fibers are created by forcing, usually through extrusion, fiber forming materials through holes into the air, forming a thread...

. Early sailing vessels used rope of hemp or other fibers, which gave way to wire ropes of various types. Galvanized steel was common for most of the 20th century, though eclipsed since the 1960's by stainless steels. Highly engineered racing yachts have recently begun to use composite fiber line and rod for standing rigging, with the goal of reducing weight aloft.

Typically, a modern sailboat rigged as a sloop will carry the following pieces of standing rigging:
a forestay

Forestay

On a sailing vessel, a forestay, sometimes just called a stay, is a piece of standing rigging which keeps a mast from falling backwards. It is attached either at the very top of the mast, or in fractional rigs between about 1/8 and 1/4 from the top of the mast. The other end of the forestay is...

, a backstay

Backstay

On a sailing vessel, a backstay is the piece of standing rigging that runs from the mast to the transom of the boat, counteracting the forestay and jib...

, and upper and lower shrouds

Shroud (sailing)

On a sailboat, the shrouds are pieces of standing rigging which hold the mast up from side to side. There is frequently more than one shroud on each side of the boat....

.

Rigging parts include: Swageless Terminals, Swage Terminals , Shackle Toggle Terminals and Fail Safe Wire Rigging Insulators