Posted: 21 Apr 2016 at 8:13pm
Thinking of replacing my wire to rope halyards. For those of you that have done this, what type, thickness and length of line did you use? Any changes that you would make? Where did you have the work done?
Thanks, Mike


Posted: 22 Apr 2016 at 7:20pm
Hi Mike

I re -rigged Marionette(12) about 18 years ago. Her halyards then were were wire/rope. I decided to go all rope and my primary concern was that too small a rope diameter (pressure to save weight aloft) might get the halyard under load to get squeezed/caught in the small (wire) groove in the mast head sheaves. Replacing these sheaves was, for me, not an option.

I went with a double braid, low stretch polyester, 7/16" dia - red for the main halyard and a blue/white for the jib halyard. (This made the skipper's cry from the cockpit of "No! not that one, the blue one!" as crew was about the drop the main instead of the jib on a spinnaker set) much more understandable than 'not that one, the other one'.

18 years later, never once got caught in the small mast head sheave groove - only occasionally get crew jabs that 'really, you should have smaller diameter halyards.

As I recall I started with the same overall length as the wire/rope halyards then on the boat.

Early days I used to worry that heavily loaded sails would stretch the 'low stretch' rope I bought. I don't worry about that anymore -

I did not think that the super high strength rope options were worth the cost. Still don't

Ron