Best rope for main halyard

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twinkeel

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Boat is 30ft with a tall rig (40ft luff)

Main halyard needs replacing and am confused by conflicting advice from chandlers.

Some say Liros braid on braid

Others say low stretch polyester with braided outer

What do people think ?
 
My main halyard was replaced last year with Dyneema. It is expensive, but prior to that the luff of the sail always got a bit slack after an hour or so. I would recommend it to you.
 
sailorman said:
the braid on braid will be ok,it isnt as critical as the genoa as it generally has less load
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Sorry to disagree, but unless the sail has a separate downhaul / cunningham control, the main halyard tension will be absolutely critical to sail shape upwind (as this determines where the curve of the sail lies).
Ours is wire for this reason, but a modern high tech rope such as dyneema woud be just as good nowadays. DONT use cheap stretchy rope on this application
 
dunedin said:
Sorry to disagree, but unless the sail has a separate downhaul / cunningham control, the main halyard tension will be absolutely critical to sail shape upwind (as this determines where the curve of the sail lies).
Ours is wire for this reason, but a modern high tech rope such as dyneema woud be just as good nowadays. DONT use cheap stretchy rope on this application
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i use Dyneema my self but it might in this case be cost is a consideration ;)
the cunningham will only come into play once the head board is @ the top black band wont it
 
Using Jimmy Green prices for comparison purposes there is about a 3:1 premium for Dyneema (£183 v £65). This is based on 10mm and 30m sizes.

Not clear to me if I can come down in diameter with the dyneema

The boat has a cunningham but is a cruiser ( + occasional club races) rather than a racer so not sure the premium is worth it

That said my previous boat ( Bav 36) had a wire halyard but could never be described as a racer !
 
twinkeel said:
Using Jimmy Green prices for comparison purposes there is about a 3:1 premium for Dyneema (£183 v £65). This is based on 10mm and 30m sizes.

Not clear to me if I can come down in diameter with the dyneema

The boat has a cunningham but is a cruiser ( + occasional club races) rather than a racer so not sure the premium is worth it

That said my previous boat ( Bav 36) had a wire halyard but could never be described as a racer !
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you can certainly come down to a smaller Dia but you need to be able to handle the rope & Dyneema is stiffer & less pliable than braid on braid
 
braid on braid will be OK but dyneema is much better
braid creeps under load, so the effect is that you have to re-tension it after a while, depending on the wind strength. what then happens is that you re-load it and and get closer to is breaking point.
Dyneema is lighter, simple to re-splice, gives all the handling benefits of braid and all the control benefits of wire.
I'd recommend dyneema but also that you add an extra couple of meters so that it can be reduced in length and re-spliced once signs of chafe appear. That way you get better value and a halyard that will last longer.
Get the rigger to double back a loop of the outer cover and whip it so that it is easy to attach a mouse line every winter when you remove it

difficult to visualise sitting at home, but once you've tried it, you'll use dyneema (or similar high modulus cord) all the time, especially for spinnaker guys and sheets.
 
Definitely Dyneema, and I seriously doubt you need 10 mm. 8 or possibly even 6 would suffice. I think 3 mm (uncovered) has a breaking strength of over 1 tonne. 10 mm (uncovered) has a breaking strength of over 10 tonnes - probably enough to lift your boat pretty easily.
Dyneema has about the same strength as wire of the same diameter. Even taking into account the cover, you could definitely go thinner than 10 mm.
 
check the type of sheeve you have at the mast head and make sure that it's the right profile for the material that you choose
vee groove for wire gentle u groove for poly and flat for dynema
it all affects the breaking strain
my preferance is definitely dynema

dont forget dynema damaged by UV so keep covered unless you want to replace it every couple of seasons
 
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Main halyard

I agree that Dyneema/ spectra is the way to go. You need good windward performancere on any but but certainly cruiser. It is bad if you have to retension main halyard after some sailing. Wire with a rope tail is good but expensive if you have to pay for the splice. Don't rush however to smaller size dyneema it does stretch if you go smaller.
I reckon with halyards if you tie a bowline at the head of the sail you can make an point of moving the knot each time you tie it so you move the wear points on the rope increasing life a lot compared to splicing.
good luck olewill
 
idpnd said:
There used to be halyards before dyneema correct? Pre-stretched polyester perhaps?
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Wire used to be a lot more common.
It's still often a good answer.
But splicing it into rope is labour intensive, so the dyneema may be cheaper if you don't have the skills to DIY.
Also the sheaves may only be suitable for rope nowadays.
 
Lots of good feedback here

Looking hard at the Dyneema solution but am a bit worried by the comment regarding UV degradation.

Is it really only good for a couple of seasons ?

Anyone got any tricks for protecting it ( Eg. use mousing line attached to halyard shackle so that the Dyneema can be withdrawn into the mast when not in use ??

Thanks to all
 
twinkeel said:
Lots of good feedback here

Looking hard at the Dyneema solution but am a bit worried by the comment regarding UV degradation.

Is it really only good for a couple of seasons ?

Anyone got any tricks for protecting it ( Eg. use mousing line attached to halyard shackle so that the Dyneema can be withdrawn into the mast when not in use ??

Thanks to all
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my 14 m/m Genoa halliard is entering its 4th season so fingers X, if it fails i still have the wire > rope ;)
 
<<dont forget dynema damaged by UV so keep covered unless you want to replace it every couple of seasons>>

I think you may be confusing Dyneema/Spectra with Kevlar - definitely the latter is very prone to UV degradation and fatigue-fracture.

My Spinnaker halyard is 17 years old (and in far higher UV conditions than UK), the genoa halyard 12 years old and I only changed the main halyard after 15 years because of chafe.
 
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