E-27 Halyard Replacement

[Linda Buchanan]

Hello Everyone!

I just bought my first boat, a 1977 E-27. The boat is in excellent condition with the exception of the running rigging. The halyards are in the worst condition and I won't feel safe sailing the boat until I replace them.

I'm looking for suggestions on a couple of points...

1) Should I replace them with all rope or a rope/wire combo as is on the boat right now?

2) My main halyard is 3/8" and my jib halyard is 7/16". Is this the way it should be? I don't know why, but I expected them to be the same.

3) Finally, is it best to purchase pre-made halyards with factory splices, or will I actually do better (i.e. quality and cost) if I make them myself? (I don't know much about splicing, but I'm sure I could figure it out.)

I did check out the other thread re: halyard replacement, but that was more of a "how to" discussion.

Thanks,
Linda

 

[Ray Rhode]

I was in the same quandry last year and decided to switch to all rope. I ordered new Sta-Set X halyards to repalce the wire/rope halyards. When we got the mast down I discovered that the sheeves were not large enough to thke the recommended rope size. I wound up staying with wire/rope as I could not see how to get the larger sheeves into the mast truck. If you decide to go to all rope check the sheeves first. If you go with wire/rope I would strongly suggest having the splicing done by a competent rigger. Three strand splicing is pretty simple, double braid is doable, but IMHO wire/rope should be left to professionals.

 

[Bill Robbins]

Dido on what Ray said. I just rebuilt my entire mast, including running rigging. I switched from wire on rope to extra low stretch line (XLT Yacht Braid 7/16 inch for main and jib). The line cost $1.06/foot. I enjoy handling the extra low stretch halyards much more than the old wire on rope. You can splice xlt line yourself, however there is an additonal step unique to xlt line that is not mentioned in the standard double brade directions. After you practice and learne the double braid splice any friendly rigging shop will be able to show you the additional step easily. Go for it!
I needed to replace my sheaves. In my case I could find the right diameter and thickness sheave, but could not find one with the correct bearing, or pin size. I ended up having the machine shop at the boat yard press in a new bearing. It was a low tech plastic composite sheave about $12 each,( I needed four). Then an additional $70 for the machine shop, (One hour labor)
The next time you are at the top of the mast inspect your sheaves. Some sheaves can accommodate both wire and rope. Mine were such, but the wire wore down the wire groove too deeply such that the rope may not have rolled through the sheaves smoothly. In general the rope sheave looks more uniformly round, like a half circle. Whereas the wire sheaves will tend to have and additional "dip" to the sheave to accommodate the wire. This is especially true if the sheave has been worn (like mine). Replacing the sheaves on mine was easy. Take off two screws on the pin's cover plate, drive out pin with a long skinny drift punch. The sheaves then pulled or fell right out. My mast at the time was on the dock lying flat on a saw horse so be careful if you are 40 feet up!
Good luck.

 

[Sean Engle]

Hey Ray -

Does 'Discovery' have the 3/8 jib halyard on it - or 7/16? I want to get rid of my wire-to-rope jib halyard also - and am assuming that it will take the 3/8 version (what I've seen on another E35-3, and I assume the wire-to-rope sheeve will take 3/8). As an aside - the rope on the current setup looks like 7/16....

What size did you try to run over the sheeve?

//sse

 

[Ray Rhode]

Sean,

Have not been ignoring you because you got the boat's name wrong ). Weather has been so bad that I have not been to the boat in says. "Journey" has 7/16" jib halyards and 1/2" main halyard. I tried to use 9/16" Sat-Set X for an all rope halyard and it was too large. Wish I had measured the sheeve openning while I had the stick down.

Ray

 

[Sean Engle]

Oops!

Sorry about that Ray - I don't know what I was thinking...... It must be the result of hearing that wire halyard whacking around inside the mast all night that's making me lose my memory!

I think replacing it (very soon) with rope will be in my future!

//sse