Replacing wire mainsail halyard with line

[Brent Swain]

Big mistake. I sailed from BC to New Zealand with rope halyards. Every time it fell calm or blew like hell I would drop the sails. Then it took a few more days to winch the stretch out. They chafed thru a couple of times, and I had to go aloft alone to re-run them. When I got to New Zealand my first priority was to switch to wire. I've used wire halyards for the last 34 years and would never go back to line. I've done 8 Pacific crossings with no problems with galvanised wire. I've gotten ten yars per halyard . People using stainless have had far less success. The brittleness of SS causes strands to break , a problem I've never had with galv 7X19.
Brent

[hellosailor]

Louis, you yourself say that you last used bungee cords of some anonymous type 34 years ago. I would suggest that modern cordages such as Spectra and Aramid are something totally different from whatever you used back then, any comparison to what you used is totally baseless.

Modern synthetic cordage is in fact also known to cut the stainless spreader bars inside masts. In many ways it outperforms steel. It isn't perfect, but it is not the "rope" you used in your youth.

[GMac]

Yeap I suspect your spot on the money there HS, ropes have come a long way since the 70's. Louis has it right with the galv being better than the stainless though. No work hardening, cheaper, lighter, all gotta be good.

What's more ropes recently took another large step. You can now get a rope made by Paraloc. Same sort of spectra (and others) core with polyester (and others) cover type thing but they have found a way of integrating the 2 so you don't have the cover/core slip issue, no herniaion, better shape hold, better heat dissipation. All problems many have just have to put up with.

Looking around, what we are getting asked for and so on makes use think wire as we knew it is fading off boats relativly fast. Sure it will still be around for many years to come but it is getting replaced on more more and things.

I don't actually have even 1 metre of wire on my yacht now I think about it, if you don't count the rod rigging as wire. All my halyards, backstay and everything else are rope, some quite flash ropes but rope all the same.

At the office we would do 50 or so rope halyards for every one with wire in it now. When I did my time in the late 70, early 80's nearly every one we made was wire or partly.

[hellosailor]

GMac, what's the deal on non-wire rigging these days, anyway? I keep waiting for that to go away too, figuring that if cordage makes good halyards--it ought to make good rigging too, no?

[NoTies]

I've seen a few wire halyards jump the sheave with the sail up but I've never seen rope do this. I'm using spectra instead of wire for my main halyard but it is knotted not spliced bacause GMac hasn't come down to show me how to splice it yet ;-)

[GMac]

Sorry Pete. I'll arrive one evening bearing beer and fids
Don't want to be pickie but I'm going too, think Vectran for halyards next time. Basically the same specs as good Spectra/Dyneema but without the creep under big load. Spectra is good, damn good but Vectran is that smdigen better. The cost should be quite similar unless you get a real silly on and go super flash with Technora covers and so on.

Ropes for holding the mast up - some good stuff out there but cost is still a killer. There is some longevity issues as well I understand. I'd say it is still in the realms of race yachts only at this stage, well funded ones at that. If I was rigging a cruising boat right now I'd use rod rigging.

Got ya head tucked in nicely today Pete? They canned our racing today due to the small 45kt gusts. Just shot up Mt Vic and can confirm it is drafty to say the least

[NoTies]

Just put a second reef in. We've got 20 for a coffee cruise later on and I don't want to stain the teak.

[hellosailor]

"beer and fids"
Must be an Oz thing. Stateside, we usually do beer & chips.<G>

[NoTies]

Arghhhhh, OMG GMac, he called us Aussies!!!!! Must be Canadian. (or Mexican??)

[hellosailor]

Well, it is hard to tell you apart, with everything walking upside down there and water rotating the wrong way in the drains.<G>

[Whimsical]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Well, it is hard to tell you apart, with everything walking upside down there and water rotating the wrong way in the drains.<G>

I think you have the upside down wrong. The land masses of the world used to be more evenly distributed over the globe but have been slowly migrating to the northern hemisphere. Why? Centrifgal action would tend to concentrate it towards the equator. Gravity pulls things down from the top so we are on the top and you lot the bottom.

Mike

[GMac]

Originally Posted by pwederell

Arghhhhh, OMG GMac, he called us Aussies!!!!! Must be Canadian. (or Mexican??)

Right Pete, load the weapons and chock up the beer fridge. I think we need to pop over and have a quite word with that Hellosailor. We taking your boat or mine? I think the call is yours based on fridge dimentions alone

Hard to tell us apart? If someone;
plays rugby sort of OK but definiatly not at the moment
Is on a AC boat but is not a NZer
speaks with a funny accent
spells beer - XXXX
doesn't know what good beer actually tastes like
thinks real men do actually drink lite beer
has to drink and wash in beer due to no water
always wonders around waiting for some critter to bite or sting them
thinks Rivieras (tupperware fizz nasties) are good boats
can play cricket
Doesn't think Kangaroo is damn good tucker
has a national hero who is a porn txting kiddy basher
thinks the wing mark on an olymipic course is there just so they know when to tack to the top mark
calls toasted sammies Jaffles

They are the Aussie.

Better rush off and put the flameproof suit on about now

"beer and fids"
Must be an Oz thing. Stateside, we usually do beer & chips

A fid is a tool, no not an Aussie cricket player, a splicing one. As for beer I'd be tempted to say most from the US wouldn't know what a real one was, purely based on vast product sampling

Gezz I'm a bit bolshie tonite... What the ..... bring it on

[NoTies]

Why is Aussie/'merican beer like making love in a canoe?














They're both f****ng close to water.
Apologies for the thread drift.
BTW Hellosailor was the name of a bloody great Kiwi band

[shellback]

LMAO wow,
nothing like inter-contential poking of fun at each other huH?

Hey, I enjoyed when I visited Australia. Beautiful place, super nice people. Heck, I visited Perth/Fremantle within a year after we wont back the America's Cup back in 1987 and yep, even though the locals hated us Americans, they still were cool 'n nice in the pub.

Love to go back 'n visit!

[GMac]

Pete, keep an eye on that Shellback character will you. He looks to be walking a fine line as well