Is dyneema more squeaky than polyester rope???

W

West Coast

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My new (to me) boat has a German mainsheet system for the main, with the track just forward of the saloon hatch. Sheet is dyneema line in harken ball bearing blocks. Out for first sail today, and was surprised at the amount of squeaking in the system when under load!

Hard to tell where the squeak/squeal was coming from as we tensioned the sheet, presumably between the dyneema external braid and the various block cheeks. I have never noticed this before on my old boat, but all lines were polyester braid on braid type.

Is this a common dyneema problem, or what could be causing the squeak/squeal?
 
Can be, but check the fairness of the blocks at the mast end of the boom and particularly the turning blocks on the deck. Ours went noisy last week as the rubber boot twisted and stopped the deck block standing up properly.
If all good throw some water on each block in turn and see if any change.
K
 
Just a thought: Could it be the mast base (if deck-stepped) or the deck wedges (if keel-stepped)?

Mine's the latter & I sometimes get a bit of creaking from the deck collar area, on a beat in a blow.
 
Thanks all, will check block leads etc. Definitely not the mast base as the squeaks happen when the boat is berthed and the boom gently moves in the wind! Only way to silence then is to slacken the sheet
 
If you have gone from a multi purchase system (say 6:1 or 8:1) to a German system which is 2:1 there will be more squeaking as the load is higher on everything. Listen to a big boat trimming on or easing off!

Harken one drop will help ensure the blocks are running free and check no bearings are missing or blocks deformed.
 
It seems unlikely to be a German sheeting system if the track is forward of the companionway.
 
West Coast said:
Believe me - it is !
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Like this, with a mainsheet winch on either side of the cockpit?
main10.gif
 
West Coast said:
Exactly like that
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OK. I've never seen one with a track forward of the companionway. They are more common on racing set-ups with the traveller well aft.

I've seen lots of cruising boats with a single winch on the cabin top (sheet led forward to the gooseneck then down) but as I say, never a true German system with two winches and the track forward of the companionway.

Live and learn.
 
I'm inclined to agree with you, as I have a German yacht which has a sheet-track just ahead of the wheel.

The tail of the 4:1 runs up to a block on the boom, then through the boom to a gooseneck sheave, down to a mastcollar block, accross to a deck-tidy, aft through a s/steel tube under the deck, emerging just beside the wheel through a clutch to a winch. The Dehler User's Handbook calls it a "German Mainsheet System" . I suppose they should know. Gute fahrt!
 
bbg said:
OK. I've never seen one with a track forward of the companionway. They are more common on racing set-ups with the traveller well aft.

I've seen lots of cruising boats with a single winch on the cabin top (sheet led forward to the gooseneck then down) but as I say, never a true German system with two winches and the track forward of the companionway.

Live and learn.
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I know exactly what you mean that the racing arrangement with the traveller aft, sometimes even aft of the helm, is what is commonly known as a German mainsheet, but I'm another owner of an old style Dehler with the mainsheet led to a single winch on a pedestal just forward of the wheels which Dehler also call a German system (sheet is attached to an arch over the cockpit so at least isn't on the coachroof). I've also heard the cruising arrangement with winch by the companonway and traveller on the coachroof called a German system too.

Dehler must've been one of the very early adopters of the system so no surprise that it has evolved in different direction since.
 
West Coast said:
Thanks all, will check block leads etc. Definitely not the mast base as the squeaks happen when the boat is berthed and the boom gently moves in the wind! Only way to silence then is to slacken the sheet
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We have a very similar, perhaps identical, setup. Don’t think the dyneema mainsheet should be a cause of the noise.
I suspect our squeaks are coming from the solid kicker and/or the boom gooseneck (Selden gas kickers sometimes do this, but ours doesn’t have the gas strut so not that).

When at anchor or leaving the boat in a marina we sometimes take a short rope from the mainsheet attachment point down to the (offside) mid cleat - then pull the traveller away to triangulate. This stops the creaks
 
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