Spectra lifelines

[s/v Jedi]

It was 2004 that I changed to Spectra lifelines and many sailors were all up in protest about such a foolish idea

It pleases me to say that today, 12 years later, I replaced those lifelines with new ones... again, Spectra

The fist time I used an Italian brand Spectra/Polyester mixed core and polyester cover. This held up so good that I replaced it with Samson XLS extra 5/16" today, which is the same type of product.

I also notice that more and more boats are making the same choice and in general it doesn't cause much excitement anymore when I tell others what I have.

Also, early 2005 I replaced my running backstays with Amsteel and today I decided it still doesn't need replacement!

[estarzinger]

Hey Jedi,

Could you post pics of the old life lines, close ups of where they ran thru the stanchions, the "worst" spots you can find.

There is still a debate about this in the racing community, and some visuals of your well used lines would be useful.

And you don't happen to have a load cell do you? It would be extremely interesting to break them and see how strong they are now.

[Stumble]

Estar,

My old ones aren't quite that old, but the lifelines on my old Olson 30 are about 8 years old and still going fine. If you would like them for testing I would be happy to talk to the owner about replacing them and shipping them off to you for testing.

Lots of crewed hiking and day racing, living in the sun 24x7 in New Orleans.

[s/v Jedi]

Sorry, they are already disposed of. Our lower lifelines ran through the stanchions where they are simply drilled through the walls without any bushings so I would have expected chafing there but there wasn't. The upper lifelines get much more loading from grabbing, tying fenders etc. and would be chafed but here my stanchions have beautiful flared-out holes so no issues.

My upper lifelines also touch my mizzen capshrouds and I did see markings within weeks so I dressed up the lifeline there with sacrificial 1/8" diameter doublebraid polyester. This was all but chafed through now.

I used 1/8" diameter spectra core doublebraid line for lashings that take place of spanners and this was still good.

The reason for replacing the lifelines is that they started to stretch suddenly so I assumed loss of integrity.

I believe racers use Amsteel and replace every 7 years by rule of thumb? My runners are now 11 years and look bleached (but feel smooth like new) but that is only the very outer part; underneath still original color as well.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Stumble

Estar,

My old ones aren't quite that old, but the lifelines on my old Olson 30 are about 8 years old and still going fine. If you would like them for testing I would be happy to talk to the owner about replacing them and shipping them off to you for testing.

Lots of crewed hiking and day racing, living in the sun 24x7 in New Orleans.

Thanks for the offer - what sort and size of line did you use?

We have some reasonable data on single braids. I was particularly interested in Jedi's because we do not have much info on double braids.

[Stumble]

I would have to double check, but I am 90% sure they were 1/4" amsteel blue.