Looking for others info on their running rigging ...

Refueler

Refueler

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Superanne has what I believe to be oversized on some items. So I am looking to find out what others are using ... please only give sizes for standard braid on braid / 3 strand layup .... I'm not looking for Dynemma or racing stuff !!

Superanne - my boat is 25ft motor sailer with a westerly Centaur mast setup. Plastimo 609 plain furling system. plain roller boom with rope kicker. So that should provide the bench mark to work from.

My cordage is :

Genny Sheets : 10mm @ 14m each
Main sheets : 11mm @ 18m
Main halyard : 12mm @ 25m
Genny Halyard: 12mm @ 24m
Furling gear 'lock line' to mast top : 7mm @ 16m 3 strand
Furling line : 7mm @ 17m
Topping lift : 8mm @ 21m 3 strand

I have an idea that the furling line + 'lock line' could be reduced to 6mm and then furling drum would not bunch up so much.

Halyards down to 10mm ?

Any replacements in standard braid on braid.

Panels thoughts please ....
 
It’s nice to have a thicker feel to your sheets so 10mm is fine but halyards on a boat like that 8mm and furlers 6mm.

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The guy who had the boat before me was a stickler for safety ... and over-sized most of the cordage.

The furling drum tends to bunch up with the existing line and needs care when unfurling sail. Its nice though to have a line that you can 'feel' but I'm sure I can go down one size.
The line that locks the top furling block from rotating is definitely overkill in my mind ... and can easily drop to 6mm.

Halyards pass through the mast sheaves ok - but when mousing lines for removal - the joint even as a seaman keeping as smooth / small as possible gets caught entering sheave .. it why I lost my spinny halyard when the two parted at the masthead.
12mm halyards to me are a bit OTT for a boat like this ... and 10mm would I think be good enough. Leaves a bit of room for that joint to pass through as well.

Sheets - yes - I like large to be comfortable.
 
Reduce halyards to 8mm

6 mm will be adequate for topping lift

Dont reduce the furling line ...you need to be able to get a good grip on it but whatever else you do don't use 3 strand . The turns lock themselves on the drum ... don't ask!

If by "lock line " you are referring to your novel solution to avoid halyard wrap. Do away with it it is an unnecessary additional bit of string. Fit a halyard diverter to the front face of the mast to give the recommended angle between the spar/ forestay and the halyard ... You know about the special bent shackle between halyard and swivel
 
VicS said:
Reduce halyards to 8mm

6 mm will be adequate for topping lift

Dont reduce the furling line ...you need to be able to get a good grip on it but whatever else you do don't use 3 strand . The turns lock themselves on the drum ... don't ask!

If by "lock line " you are referring to your novel solution to avoid halyard wrap. Do away with it it is an unnecessary additional bit of string. Fit a halyard diverter to the front face of the mast to give the recommended angle between the spar/ forestay and the halyard ... You know about the special bent shackle between halyard and swivel
Click to expand...

Halyards ... umming around the 8 - 10mm

Furling line - well aware of 3 strand and not to use ... any line that involves a revolving item - ... the 7mm fills the drum and often I have to go forward to turn last 1 or 2 to get full sail out ..

The lock line is actually not my idea .. its an alternative that Plastimo used to suggest many years ago for those occasions when the halyard would not play ball ... that extra line is g'teed to work and never failed.
As regards the bent shackle - yes its already fitted as there is no way to avoid its use.

The diverter was removed years ago as it was not successful on her ...
To be honest - the guy who originally fitted it - I think he got hold of a 2nd hand one or damaged it in installing. The bottom section for about 1m has bad groove and sail does not feed properly ... he never fitted the correct bottom section and opened out the slot on the section he did use. Once sail is up - no problem as the luff is then tight.
I have thought to replace the bottom section but then it is rarely called upon to lower / raise sail ....

Here's a funny tale about my furling gear .....

We were having a potter up the river ... aimlessly gliding along minding own business ... in an section we'd been many times before .... suddenly bow reared up ... and she STOPPED !!
WTF !!!!! Checked E/S ... 8m water ... so what was it ... a rock or what ... then we looked up ..... some clever sod had rigged a power cable across the river to his summer hut across the other side ...
How we didn't bring that cable down is a testament to his 'construction' !!

We backed away ... and looked up the forestay .... top section of the foil was bent !

Back home .... dropped the mast ... angle grinder out .. luckily the bend was above the head of the sail so losing that bit was not a problem. Cut of the bent section ...
Just means that my spare sail from my race boat is now 10cms too long in luff !! Another section that maybe one day I will replace ...
 
I, too, think your halyards can go down to 8mm, and certainly no more than 10mm, based on various recommendations I've read.

I am in the process of replacing my running rigging so have been researching sizes, and found recommendations from Jimmy Green and also one of the rope manufacturers (as well as old YBW threads) of 8mm for my boat, based on my boat and mainsail size which is a little larger than yours - 27.4 ft boat, mainsail about 15m2. (My current halyards, too, are 12mm).

Just looked again at Jimmy Green website, and can't find the page I saw before, but on the halyards page you can select the relevant cruising sail area on the left and the filter will show you 8mm halyards for sails 10m2 to 20m2. Halyard Rope - Jimmy Green Marine

See also e.g.
Rope diameter advice - how thick should your sailing ropes be?
Rope Size Guide | Nautical Rope
A Google search will find some more.
 
Maybe because of the 12mm on there now ... 8mm seems a hell of a reduction !!

I think the 10mm will give me peace of mind as well as my feeling safe if hoisted up the mast ....

The old 12mm will provide me with excellent mooring ropes !! When I do replace.

just washed all the ropes and given the careful eyeball ... and they are all good to go another season ... except the genny sheets ... which of course suffer from the stays. End for end to start season and then replace once season gets really going.

Am I only one who washes and then end for ends their ropework ?
 
It needs to work on the winches and jammers and clutches.
If the rope runs around the sheaves nicely, it's perhaps questionable whether a couple of mm diameter really does much harm.
With modern rope there is a lot of mileage in tapering many sheets and halyards.
Tapering our furling line to reduce the mass of rope on the drum made it work much more smoothly, but the bit we handle or put on a winch is the same size as before. Tapering the dinghy kite halyard got rid of most of the friction.
 
If you have halyard winches then you need not worry so much about getting a good grip on the line. My 55 foot boat with a 62ft mast has 12mm braid on braid halyards so yes, I think you can go down a size on the halyards.

I would be cautious about reducing the mainsheet as that does get handled a lot, and I think, on the same grounds, that you might not want to reduce your genoa sheets below 10mm.
 
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My 9m cat has 12mm haliards, geanoa sheet 14mm, main sheet 10mm but it is either 3 to one ratio or 6 to 1 as it has 2 ends that can be pulled. Genoa furling line is 8mm but has the centre part removed on the first 7m. Topping lift is 10mm.
I try to size the lines so that they are comfortable to handle so possibly over engineered.
Mooring warps are generally 14mm though the permanent ones on my berth are 16mm, all 3 strand nylon so nice and stretchy.
 
Refueler said:
Maybe because of the 12mm on there now ... 8mm seems a hell of a reduction !!

I think the 10mm will give me peace of mind as well as my feeling safe if hoisted up the mast ....

The old 12mm will provide me with excellent mooring ropes !! When I do replace.

just washed all the ropes and given the careful eyeball ... and they are all good to go another season ... except the genny sheets ... which of course suffer from the stays. End for end to start season and then replace once season gets really going.

Am I only one who washes and then end for ends their ropework ?
Click to expand...
10mm halyards for ease of handling. 8mm, possibly 6mm would have enough strength. Best to size to the mast sheaves cos thats where you'll get problems, as you've discovered.
12mm sheets, again for handling. I put 14mm sheets on my storm jib cos I thought it would be better for handling in strong winds. Not tested but it looks ridiculous. 10mm sheets felt a little uncomfortable to handle when I had them.
No, you're not completely alone on washing and turning around running rigging. This winter I washed (well, mostly my missus did!) 37 different bits of string from my 10m cutter. Took forever by hand since the marina had a word last year about not using their washing machine for doing it.
Oh, and if you are repurposing those 12mm halyards you might cut off lengths of the outer braid to slide over your 10mm sheers where they chafe on the shroud. Gives you another season or three ?
 
Moody 31. All braid on braid.

All sheets 12 mm for ease of handling. Thinner would be amply strong enough, but it's about handling.

Halliards 10mm.

Furling line - whatever Furlex specified; it's in the manual. Bigger or smaller can both give problems; I think it's 6mm (I should remember as I only replaced it last year!)
 
I shouldn't worry too much about being able to take your weight. With a 12mm halyard you could probably lift your boat!

(Also, if it's just for going aloft, you probably don't do that very often so could always swap for a heavier line for the occasion.)

Info below is for Liros' current bog standard (Evo) braid on braid.

LBL = LIROS Break Load
Max SA = LIROS recommended Maximum Sail Area
WLS = LIROS stretch at working load
< = less than

DiameterLBLMax SAWLS
6mm1300kg10sqm< 5%
8mm2290kg20sqm< 5%
10mm3000kg30sqm< 5%
12mm3700kg40sqm< 5%
 
Having reduced halyard sizes on a previous boat I can only suggest the following 2 points:

1 - Don't make your topping lift too thin or it will hum annoyingly in most winds. This humming will be louder in the cabin.
2 - Downsize your ropes by all means, but check that any (a) camcleats, (b) clamcleats, or; (c) clutches you use for them will hold them when they are very tight. Any wear on them will mean they slip, and you'll be stuck with slipping halyards or buying a new rope or buying a new clutch.

Annoying? Yes, I found it so...
 
Luckily I have an old boat and no clutches anywhere !! The only fittings that would require me to take care on size are the jamming cleats for genny sheats ... and they can hold down to 8mm .... but I will stay with 10mm there anyway.

Winches are Lewmar 6's so no problem there Even the mast halyard winch (which to be honest - I rarely need - can handle the 10 - 12mm easily.

So the general looks like :

Halyards / sheets all 10mm
Topping lift 8mm
Furling line and 'lock line' 6mm
 
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