Genoa sheets ... type of rope?

VicS

VicS

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For a small boat like mine what would be the most sensible choice of construction and material of rope for genoa sheets


Braid on three strand or braid on braid for suppleness ?
Polyester or polyester on polypropylene?
Matt finish presumably?
or what ?

It will be 12mm to fit existing sheet leads and cleats!
 
braid on braid for me also. I have 12mm on a much bigger boat so on your boat 12mm from a strength point of view will be overkill except 12mm would be OK from a handling point of view.
 
Polyester, because of the high UV resistance.

Braid-on-Braid for ease of handling and smoother running in blocks, rope managers and winches (and their self-tailers).

Diameter affects safe working load (SWL) and self-tailers and blocks have minimum and maximum sizes too. Most ropes are oversized to make them easier to handle.

Matt finish is cosmetic, as is choice of colour (solid colour rope costs more than flecked).

More about the properties of various rope types: http://www.marlowropes.com/technical/physical-properties.html
 
Vic, I don't know your boat or setup, but I have some counterpoints to consider.
12mm seems way too heavy (and expensive) for a "small boat" genoa sheet. True, it is easier on the hands, but hopefully you're winching it, not hauling it, so you only need to tail it off the winch.
Larger diameter might make more sense for main sheet, if it's used without a winch.
If you used bowlines to attach to genoa (maybe you don't), 12mm bowlines are large, heavy, catch on stays etc...
12mm would normally be more difficult to secure in self tailer than thinner rope.
Ropes will weather and soon become "matt" anyway. Cheers
 
VicS said:
The original was 12mm. At least the mainsheet was
Click to expand...

I can see the mainsheet being 12mm, but jib sheets would be better at 10mm. I find Marine Scene good for ropes. Reel ends are typically under £1 a metre and you can usually get lengths close to what you need.
 
Marlow Braid is my rope of choice, which is a braid on a laid core.
Braid on braid I find to be too floppy and easy to tangle.
10mm would be ample for a Seawitch yet large enough to be easy on the hands.

Plank
 
Hello Vic I imagine by now you are convinced that 10mm is the right size and rightly so. Heavy stuff will be a pain to drag around the baby forestay especially in light conditions. I have always used polyester braid 10mm on the little boat but even that can seem too heavy in light conditions racing. But 10mm is fine for heavy handling. I have successfully used endless sheet bowlines at the clew but currently use 2 separate sheets. Using bowlines that are attached each voyage means the wear points move each time. good luck olewill
 
PlankWalker said:
Marlow Braid is my rope of choice, which is a braid on a laid core.
Braid on braid I find to be too floppy and easy to tangle.
10mm would be ample for a Seawitch yet large enough to be easy on the hands.

Plank
Click to expand...
You might have a point about braid on braid being too floppy. What's on there at the moment is very supple. Something a little less so would be better I think esp if reducing the size to 10mm.


William_H said:
Hello Vic I imagine by now you are convinced that 10mm is the right size and rightly so. Heavy stuff will be a pain to drag around the baby forestay especially in light conditions. I have always used polyester braid 10mm on the little boat but even that can seem too heavy in light conditions racing. But 10mm is fine for heavy handling. I have successfully used endless sheet bowlines at the clew but currently use 2 separate sheets. Using bowlines that are attached each voyage means the wear points move each time. good luck olewill
Click to expand...
No baby stay to worry about but I dont use bowlines anyway. Single length with a loop plus a short knotted tail stitched and whipped in the middle. Loop goes through the clew cringle and the knotted tail goes through the loop. Can always cut in half and end for end the halves when it starts to wear .

Will have to check on the diameter. I thought the original was at home somewhere, the old mainsheet is, but maybe its on the boat.
 
I searched around for a while to determine the best for mine and found a rope manufacturers website with recommended rope types for each purpose but can't find the link lol but I did note down what was recommended for my size boat (25ft).

MAINSHEET - 10mm double braid
JIB SHEET - 10mm double braid
SPIN SHEET 8mm double braid
MAIN HALYARD - 10mm braided polyester
JIB HALYARD - 10mm braided polyester
SPIN HALYARD - 8mm double braid
 
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Gladys said:
Braid on braid for me, but not 12mm, Gladys' sheets are only 10mm with ST40's lugging on them....
Click to expand...

+1 on braid on braid, and size ... 12mm is huge... I think mine are either 10mm or just under (only a 20 footer mind) I went for a matt finish but am going to change to non-matt as they run more easily when tacking (no winches, I have cam cleats with fairlead)
 
My Corribee genoa sheet is 12mm, and I prefer handling it to the 10mm (or was it 8mm?) that was on it before. It is a lot more bulky though, but I found it in a boat yard and it was too good to throw away. I cut the worn bit off and there was more than enough for my little boat.

As an aside I attach it to the genoa with a sheetbend onto a sliced pendant. Works really well, and won't take a tooth out if it clouts you in the face like a shackle will.
 
Fantasie 19 said:
+1 on braid on braid, and size ... 12mm is huge... I think mine are either 10mm or just under (only a 20 footer mind) I went for a matt finish but am going to change to non-matt as they run more easily when tacking (no winches, I have cam cleats with fairlead)
Click to expand...

I think the existing genoa sheets are "gloss finish" maybe changing to matt would not be so wise. The mainsheet is definitely matt.

I have a piece of 10mm rope here. Not so sure about reducing the sheet size to that. I cannot grip it all that well.
 
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