wire-to-rope halyard replacement on E38

[Roger Ware]

I am thinking of replacing my (original) wire-to-rope halyards on my e38 200 with all rope. The orginal rope is 7/16" I think - I was wondering if Samson XLS 3/8 might be a good choice - or should I stick with 7/16? Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks in advance.
Roger, Kingston, ON

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

7/16 sounds way too heavy. I use 3/8 for all of my halyards. XLS is not bad stuff but there are certainly better lines for halyards. The XLS will stretch probably more than you would like on the genny halyard. I think xls is a good line for sheets and control lines but not so great for halyards. Obviously you can spend a ton of money on halyards if you want to but there are some good lines that are affordable. I used stuff by yale called Vission or Vizzion I think. I got it from www.apsltd.org. They have a lot of line of different qualities and prices. Another good source is http://www.layline.com/products.asp?dept=531

Line info at Layline:

http://www.layline.com/llf/cats/cord_05/Performance_Dbl_braids_gray.htm

they I have a lot of info on the different types of line. You will need to check the condition of your sheaves as they may have some burrs on them from the wire that you will want to smooth out before you go to line. If you really want to get slick you can make or have made a custom genny halyard for your furler. What I am making this winter is a halyard using high tech line like Crystaline that will have a reeving splice in the end. What you do is you attach a messenger line to the reeving splice then hoist the genny. The high tech halyard is just long enough to go to full hoist and leave you with 3-4 feet exiting the winch for tension adjusting. You then remove the messenger line and you don't have this big pile of line in your cockpit all year. When you want to switch jibs you attach the messenger and lower the sail. Hoist the new one and remove the messenger. This allows you to have a high tech no stretch halyard without having to buy 125' of it. I havent taken the measurements yet but the gist is to leave just enough tail at full hoist to allow you to adjust luff tension as conditions change. Back to the XLS I would consider using it for a spin halyard and maybe for the main but not for a genny. The high tech lines are incredibly strong and have very low stretch so much so that you cna actually use 5/16 on our E 38's and be fine the rouble is 5/16 is tough on the hands and most clutches don't like it. Spinlock XTS clutches can be equipped with an optional cam to handle 5/16 but that doesnt help your hands. Marlowbraid is a good alternative for halyards as it is priced low but has good stretch and handling properties. Hope this helps.

 

[Roger Ware]

great info - thanks

Ted, I love this high-tech genny idea because I hate ropes in the cockpit. Might have a go at that, too. The mauri pro sailing site http://www.mauriprosailing.com/ sells pre-made halyards for our boat which are all 7/16 but smaller is better as far as I am concerned (taking the hands point into consideration). Will probably go with 3/8 something for main and spinnaker and perhaps the fancy genny halyard. Thanks again.

Roger

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

Good luck and let me know how you make out. 3/8 is plenty strong and not bad on the hands. I use 7/16 on my jib and main sheets as they are handled a lot more.