Cordage

[Drinky Crow]

Halyards, reef, cunningham, vang, outhaul, tack for asso. Basically everthing but the sheets, is there any reason at all with todays low/no stretch lines to use anything bigger than 8mm(5/16th) on a masthead boat w/343sq ft sail area?

[JPA Cate]

10 mm is more comfortable in the hand, for most people. However, if one's hands are smaller, or one doesn't mind the cutting possibility, when one's hands are wet.....Give it a go, try it out, and then come back and tell everyone how it worked for you.

Ann

[jwoytek]

As Ann mentioned, in-hand comfort should be considered. Another thing to think about is the associated line handling gear for those lines. Cleats, fairleads, sheaves, self-tailing winch grip plates, rope clutches, blocks, etc. might need to be updated to work safely and correctly with a reduced diameter line.

[roverhi]

Went with 5/16" dyneema cored halyards, pole lifts, etc on my Sabre 28. Works fine in the clutches and self tailing winches. Not the easiest on the hands but livable and by the time it gets difficult it's time to slap the line on a winch which doesn't care about the small diameter. 3/8" line is definitely easier on the hands but wouldn't spend the money on the larger line even if money was not an issue.

Sheets are mostly 3/8" dacron though did stick with 5/16" dacron for the spinnaker sheets/guys because of the lightweight for ghosting conditions.

[Drinky Crow]

Originally Posted by roverhi

Sheets are mostly 3/8" dacron though did stick with 5/16" dacron for the spinnaker sheets/guys because of the lightweight for ghosting conditions.

This^^^^^^

[CassidyNZ]

I haven’t researched but isn’t the cost of low/no-stretch line (spectra, dyneema) that much more costly than standard Dacron to make it comparatively unattractive? Personally I’ve never found that the stretch on my lines influences the performance of my boat but I guess if your normal sailing equates to America’s Cup-ing then an inch of stretch is a problem.

I don’t have a single piece of low/no-stretch anywhere on my boat.

[Dsanduril]

Locally 1/2" (12mm) polyester/Dacron line at full retail runs about $2/foot and has 9800# breaking strength. 5/16" Dyneema is ~$2.30/ft and 13700# break. 1/4" Dyneema is $1.60 and 8600#. (all mainstream brands from a mainstream supplier, not necessarily where/what one would purchase, but easiest for grabbing a comparison).

So, for the same ultimate strength the cost is pretty similar. There are lots of other factors involved in selection (I second Ann's comments on hand), but at a gross level costs are very close using strength. If you wanted to replace an equal size polyester/Dacron with Dyneema/exotic then it's a whole other ballgame.

[Drinky Crow]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

an inch of stretch is a problem.

.

if the competitions lines don't.

Don't have to compete for the AC to want to win.

[Calif.Ted]

I've been using Samson MLX3 and have gone to 8mm Halyards, tried 10 on the main but it was overkill and heavier than required. Still using 10 for headsail sheets mostly for hand and fit to the larger winches. 32 ft. boat

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by Drinky Crow

if the competitions lines don't.

Don't have to compete for the AC to want to win.

But you have to compete to care (I don’t and I don’t)

[chrisr]

i agree with cassidynz...there is no point to use any of the aramids (dyneema etc) on a cruising boat for performance. most of us have grown out of that phase

however there are lots of situations where such will aid efficiency and ease of use...which is definitely something any cruiser should be looking for.

our motto : use the right gear for the job

cheers,

[CassidyNZ]

Originally Posted by chrisr

however there are lots of situations where such will aid efficiency and ease of use...which is definitely something any cruiser should be looking for.

Help me define this, please. Where will the use of aramids (dyneema, etc.) aid efficiency/ease of use on a cruising boat?

Not arguing, just interested.

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by CassidyNZ

Help me define this, please. Where will the use of aramids (dyneema, etc.) aid efficiency/ease of use on a cruising boat?

Not arguing, just interested.

we replaced our 14mm d/braid halyards with 10mm dyneema. similar on the headsail furling drum. runs much more smoothly

we also used a dyneema strop to lower the the boom mainsheet block by about 1m. this means a lot less mainsheet to move in / out. while we could have done this strop with something else, dyneema means it is a lot less cumbesome

what we are looking for is gear that is easy to use and a smaller diameter line will often do this. don't really care much about less stretch...

cheers,