OK, here;s a first shot at your dilemma;
Have a good look at your masthead. There will be some sheaves there, either set into the mast section or hanging on pad eyes or such. If the former, see if there are just two, or if there are two pairs of sheaves. If only one pair, the halyards will be external, ie hey will go up one side of the mast, over the sheave and down the other side. This is the most likely setup for that boat.
If there are two pairs, look at the lower end of the mast and see if there are slots for internal halyards to exit the tube. If not, then the halyards are rigged as explained above, just running over two sheaves rather than one. If there are exit slots, then the halyards will run up the outside of the mast, go over one sheave and then down the inside of the mast, coming out the exit slots. This setup is common on larger and newer boats, but unlikely on yours.
Once you have made these discoveries, check the grooves in the sheaves, and see what size line fits smoothly into them. Best way is to try some samples of various diameters. I expect it will be 5/16 inch, but could be 3/8. Now you must determine how long they should be. If they are not lead back to the
cockpit, the main
halyard must be twice the length from
deck to masthead, plus enough to make the splice at the working end plus a few feet extra for
mistakes and for making fast to
cleats, going around a
winch if fitted and so on. The
jib halyard needs to be a little longer, so that it can reach out to the bow where it will be shackled to the
head of the sail on
deck. You can
work out how much longer from simple Pythagoras math if you measure the distance from mast to stemhead.
If the halyards are indeed internal, it may be easier to fit them with the mast horizontal. The easiest way is to use an electricians "fish tape" (a flexible but stiff wire available at any
trade type
hardware store) to push a messenger line (light string) through the tube. This messenger is then used to pull the halyard through. If fitting two internal halyards, pull a second messenger through with the first halyard, thus being ready to pull the second halyard.
As to what type of line to use... the
racer types will tell you that some exotic low stretch cordage is required, and indeed it is good stuff. However for your boat any decent dacron double braid will
work ok. A slightly better line might be
New England ropes Sta-set X or the equivalent from other mfgs. Splicing the latter is tedious, but simply tying a shackle to the end will suffice, or making a stitched and whipped eye is an excellent alternative to a splice.
I think that covers the basics. Good luck, and happy sailing.
Jim
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