Fraying Sheets

jimi

jimi

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My Genoa sheets rub against my guard rail wire on certain angles of sail, and on one particular trip when we were on the same sail setting for 10 hours the sheets started fraying and I have had to replace them. In order to avoid the same thing happening again I have placed the guard wires inside the little white plastic pipes available from a plumber's store and I'm going to see if that helps. I'm curious as to whether anyone else has had the same problem and if so how they resolved it.
 
Not had this problem yet but you can buy covers for guard wires or shrouds from chandlers which are in two halves which you snap together over the wire - made in two sizes I think. Probably better than plumbers plastic pipes as they will be a closer fit over the wire and probably stronger.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing... :-)
 
You vcan get white plastic pipes split down one side precifically for this job, from riggers and some chandlers. Consider looking where they rub and sewing some leather around the wires, only bother with this if white plastic is going to look naff! on your boat.
 
Must admit they do'nt look terribly pretty, but I thought I give e'm a bash before getting someting a bit more pricey. However their naffness is insignificant compared to the 4 tubes of pipe lagging I purchased for the princely sum of 79p each which I've used to pad the wires at the back! I'm going to see how I get on with them and if they are OK I'll tape them up in up an attractive colour! Also had a look at a drainpipe to see if I could use it as a whisker pole .... but drew the line there!
 
Mine were wearing against the rear shroud so I taped a length of grey plumbing pipe to the outsides and - brilliant idea - used it to stow the boathook.
Fantastic idea and well worth patenting until the Genny sheet hooked nicely under the boathook and flicked it neatly into the oggin.
Doh.

regards
Claymore
 
I used to hang my boat hook on two little loops on the bottom wire until the sheets hooked it and.....................
 
More than likely they are more expensive, I bought mine at a boat jumble about 5 years ago - ver cheap - still haven't fitted them as I changed boats and the new boat had permanent non-split plastic piping fitted from new - presumably before the ends were swaged on.

Just another thought, perhaps 8 or 10 bore plastic flexible pipe - the clear sort with an internal nylon braid could be threaded over the wire if you have the wire that has an M8 stud on the end.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing... :-)<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by dickh on 15/11/2002 13:25 (server time).</FONT></P>
 
I'd be more tempted to rig a barber hauler on a snatch block to make sure that the sheet doesnt touch the wires in the first place. As a bonus, barber hauling a genny forward and down is likely to generate more drive as well.
 
I pinched this idea from the Dutch after chartering there. If you put a loop of cord on the bottom of a shroud and a piece of bungee with toggles at head height you can hang the boathook parallel to the shroud and secure it with no fear of it going into the oggin.
 
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