Rope twisting

[Honey]

Went down to the boat today to drop the mast using the Mast crane at the club. Lifted mast clear of deck and then had the devil of a job getting the mast down again as the lifting rope had twisted! The blocks are 3 at the top and 2 at the bottom with the rope tied of on the bottom block using 3 strand polyprop of 22-24mm.
Does any one know the correct way to rig such blocks to prevent twisting?

Thanks - Littlejohn

 

[Danny Jo]

This is a problem that foxes me too. With a stranded rope, it is understandable that increases in tension cause winding or unwinding forces in the rope, and translation of these forces into twisting of the entire tackle. So in theory the use of a braided rope should cure the problem. But I've seen exactly the same problem in mainsheet arrangements with braided rope. I've tried untwisting the tackle by feeding countertwists along the rope into it, but it is often simpler to dismantle it all, arrange the rope so that it flakes without a tendency to twist, then reeve it all again.

 

[Vara]

Vic posted this;

Which was in PBO,might need to blow it up a bit.

Whoops,copyright,delete that and say that you can buy a copy from PBO for £3.50

 

[Honey]

Thanks Colin /Vic. After having had to climb up the mast crane yesterday and hang out over the boat I would willingly fork out £3.50 to save problems when replacing mast!