One of the arguments for switching to Dyneema chainplates has been cost. Today we got a more concrete idea of the costs of replacing roughly like for like. So Cherry Ripe a Rival 38 (but aft cockpit cutter) (see Sailing Beyond Borders) has had to have custom replacement chainplates made in Antigua after one failed while crossing the Atlantic.
So now we know. $1600 USD for their chainplates (made from Stainless Steel rather than the original Superstron).
We have twice as many chainplates (ketch so two masts instead of one). So to replace our existing chainplates would probably cost over $3000 USD, they would be a bit better as we could have them longer to allow better backing plates. But we would probably need to replace some turnbuckles as the mizzen mast ones are original bronze and the main mast ones are crimped onto the existing shrouds so at least part of them will need replacing.
By comparison we should be able to buy everything we need to re-rig both masts with synthetic rigging and synthetic chainplates for the cost of just replacement chainplates. That is going to be a really significant saving for us.
Plus we still get rigging that we can carry spares for and that we can replace every part ourselves anywhere in the world.
Plus it saves a huge amount of weight up high which will improve sailing performance.
With downsides of slower tuning and needing to watch for chafe and UV damage.
See Dyneema / Synthetic Rigging Summary for the whole picture of our rigging plans/journey.
Sustainable Sailing 
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