Main Halyard line type

[planetadventure]

Hi, I have a 39 foot Manta (38 foot with additional 1.5 feet put on the sugar scoops) Catamaran. I'm buying a new main sail halyard and looking for some advice on type. This size is 7/16 and some suggest dyneema core but others are suggesting polyester to allow for some give. There seems to be arguments on both sides so as one of my first posts, I thought I would ask the group.

[Calif.Ted]

I don't know anyone who believes stretch is a good thing for a halyard, it only allows the luff to sag as the wind increases. I've been using XLS Extra, but I recently switched to MLX which has shown much less stretch.

[TheOffice]

Second on Dyneema! If your halyard stretches you lose sail shape and draft moves aft.
If you don't want to spend for MLX or Endura, Marlow and others have cheaper dyneema lines available that are still far superior to poly. Look at D2 Club v D2 Racer.

[Breaking Waves]

got to ask two questions:

what is your mainsail construction? cross cut woven dacron, radial woven dacron, radial dacron laminate, high modulus fibers, 3di . . . etc? The question is important because if your mainsail is super stretchy it is less important than your halyard be super non-stretchy.

and

how cheap are you (lol)? You can get a dacron halyard for a lot less than a hi-modulus one, and the boat will still sail with the cheap halyard, but you will get marginal gains with more money.

[Bean Counter]

Dyneema, you might even be able to go down a size or two if the original was poly. A dacron sail luff will stretch any way so having a stretch in the halyard is not necessary (Same for Jib). Also as I get hauled up on the bosuns chair it makes me feel better to have a dyneema cored halyard.

[44'cruisingcat]

Yep, spectra/dyneema.

[admiralslater]

I have high modulus halyards on my pdq 36 and an Outremer 45 . You don't want any give in any halyard.the shape of the sails really suffer which is very important when making way in strong winds .
They also protect the life of the sails as it stops pressure on areas of the sails not designed for it

[Paul L]

Dyneema core or a dyneema core blend to save a little. While you might be able to go to a smaller diameter with dyneema than your original, you have to first make sure that it will work in your clutches and winches. Often easier to keep original diameter.

[Training Wheels]

Dyneema!

[Tornadosailing]

I went with New England VPC for my main halyard, and wish I hadn't. Lower stretch than polyester but without the cost of Dyneema. On this aspect it lives up to the advertising, but...

The cover is so slick you have to put 5 wraps on the winch, through the tailer, AND tail it. It won't even haul me up in the bosun's chair without tailing it. I had two spinlock clutches, one at the winch and one at the mast. With both of them locked it wouldn't hold. I had to replace one with a Lewmar Domino clutch, which is amazing. I replaced the winch tailer jaws, and cleaned every last bit of dirt out of the winch drum. It helped, but not enough.

So, be warned. VPC is in fact low stretch for halyards. But low stretch doesn't do you much good when it slips.

[AKA-None]

With my tiny sails I’ve been pretty happy with vpc although the feel takes some getting used to.

[Tornadosailing]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

With my tiny sails I’ve been pretty happy with vpc although the feel takes some getting used to.

I can certainly see that on a 27.

By the time you hoist a big roach heavy main 69 feet in the air, not so much.

[AKA-None]

So as always ymmv based on your boat and needs.

[planetadventure]

Thank you everyone, I bought the dyneema.

[landlockedgm]

Originally Posted by AKA-None

So as always ymmv based on your boat and needs.

New England Sta-Set is hard to beat for cruising. Easy to splice, easy on the hands year after year, couple of wraps on the winch is all that is needed, and the price is right,