LittleSister
Well-Known Member
My mast is currently down and I am about to replace the mainsail and genoa halyards that run up through it.
At present, at the deck end, the genoa halyard exits on the starboard side, where there is a winch, and the main halyard exits a little higher on the port side where there is no winch. I think it would be preferable to have the winch on the main.
When I run the new halyards through it should be easy to swap the directions of the halyards at the top of the mast, so that the one from the winch goes aft to the main and vice versa.
It seems to me that there's a 50/50 chance that this will result in the halyards being wrapped round one another inside the mast, adding friction to the operation of the halyards. (That assumes they are not currently wrapped around one another. If they are, then there's a 50/50 chance that the wrap would be increased, rather than eliminated or decreased.)
Mast is about 10m long, and the halyards will be 8mm or 10mm.
My questions:
1) Am I worrying unnecessarily about something that won't make much practical difference?
2) If not, how could I tell whether the halyards are crossed inside the mast? (The mast crane fixed to the top of the mast prevents direct sight down the mast. I have a cheap endoscope, but over the relevant distance this will not provide the clarity required.) I feel there ought to be some cunning trick to address the issue.
At present, at the deck end, the genoa halyard exits on the starboard side, where there is a winch, and the main halyard exits a little higher on the port side where there is no winch. I think it would be preferable to have the winch on the main.
When I run the new halyards through it should be easy to swap the directions of the halyards at the top of the mast, so that the one from the winch goes aft to the main and vice versa.
It seems to me that there's a 50/50 chance that this will result in the halyards being wrapped round one another inside the mast, adding friction to the operation of the halyards. (That assumes they are not currently wrapped around one another. If they are, then there's a 50/50 chance that the wrap would be increased, rather than eliminated or decreased.)
Mast is about 10m long, and the halyards will be 8mm or 10mm.
My questions:
1) Am I worrying unnecessarily about something that won't make much practical difference?
2) If not, how could I tell whether the halyards are crossed inside the mast? (The mast crane fixed to the top of the mast prevents direct sight down the mast. I have a cheap endoscope, but over the relevant distance this will not provide the clarity required.) I feel there ought to be some cunning trick to address the issue.
