What size of lines do I need on a 27' yacht

Phoenix of Hamble said:
When I bought my current boat, the previous owner had used climbing ropes for the halyards!!!!!!!

lovely colours, but about 1.5m of stretch in the thing!!!!!!! :D
Click to expand...

I'm not a climber - but I think there are two kinds of climbing ropes..
Low stretch - used when you are secured with a top rope
High stretch - used when you are securing your self as you climb (if you fall you will fall some meters before the line gets tight - stretchy rope is good :)

Maybe he got the wrong type if climbing rope ?;)
 
I believe wire is rather out of fashion for yacht halyards now- perhaps because dyneema is now available, and much easier to work with. Plus for most people braid on braid polyester is absolutely fine.
Wire is still used in dinghy foresails, but this is because the sail effectively becomes the forestay.

Oh, and FWIW, I used 8mm braid on braid when I replaced all my reefing lines, and 10mm for everything else (27ft yacht). Wouldn't want to go any smaller, but at the end of the day it's personal preference, and budget. A pair of gloves is much cheaper than a new set of blocks/clutches/winches :)
 
Just sail the boat, you will quickly realise which lines have too much friction. As others have said, it is all about the size of your blocks and sheaves.

Most common one I have come across, is Reef lines that have been up sized, but now does not easily go through all the sheaves. If you have to reach up the leach after unreefing, to pull some slack through, then usually the reef lines are too big.

You don't have to waste all this rope, the old main halyard may make a good set of sheets, most badly sized or damaged ropes can usually find another use.

Riggers salutation, I wish you small lines running over big sheaves.
 
ProMariner said:
Riggers salutation, I wish you small lines running over big sheaves.
Click to expand...

Not knocking this sentiment, but I don't understand it. I know that if pulled almost to breaking strain, a thick line will be damaged by curving through a tight radius...but 14mm Marlowbraid has a breaking strain over 5 tonnes...unlikely to be encountered on a 27ft yacht.

I've often enough used 16mm braided sheets on 60mm dia sheaves...these were blocks which quoted a maximum 12mm rope dia. It was never a problem; no abrasion was obvious, no obstruction detectable, and the pleasure of holding a thick soft line was worth the ££.
 
Mavanier said:
I think the rigger's adage refers to sheave width, rather than diameter.
Click to expand...

No it refers to diameter (and width)
The importance of width is (almost) obvious - if the line is wider than the sheave it will be grinding against the walls in the block.

The diameter of the sheave give the bending radius of the rope.
The smaller bending radius you have the more load/stretch is on the part of the rope on the outside of the bend - giving uneven load on the rope and causing failure.
As the diameter of the rope increase you need larger sheave diameter to reduce this effect.

Laid rope tolerate less bending than modern braided rope .
 
dancrane said:
Not knocking this sentiment, but I don't understand it. I know that if pulled almost to breaking strain, a thick line will be damaged by curving through a tight radius...but 14mm Marlowbraid has a breaking strain over 5 tonnes...unlikely to be encountered on a 27ft yacht.
Click to expand...
But it only breaks once... normal working load (which is not damaging to the line) is more important, more modern materials may have a huge breaking force, but will fail if often loaded around max working load. Halyards are often hardened a lot and working part is still in same place - then who wants to climb? May be the reason for oversize.

Lot of advertising about breaking strength, but it's only of interest for rock climbing where they fall down once. As working load - dacron line IIRC has about the same working load as, say, hemp or sisal, despite 5 times greater breaking. Some super rope had 10x more breaking then working, which was in fact same as any...

Like an idea to have most line same size, so any bit can be used anywhere and a roll handy in a locker. Not the newest super costly, may be any as it's oversize for better handling.
 
Stevev2 said:
When I bought the boat an older survey said that the lines where too thick and to reduce friction through the blocks and deck organiser the sizes could be reduced. I am talking about halyard, topping lift, vang, etc...

Is there an online resource that would give me an idea of what size these lines should be on a 27' yacht (Sabre27)?
Click to expand...

The size of the boat is irrelevant as long as the lines are strong and non-stretchy enough to do the job and you can handle them OK. It's the size of the blocks that matters as they will be meant to handle a specific range of sizes of line. I'd say the line should be a slightly smaller than the semi-circular grove in the pulley it's running round, if that makes sense. Also, obviously, the pulley should rotate freely both off and under load and the groove shouldn't be to noticeably worn. I wouldn't have thought the thickness of the lines made much difference at all unless it's so wide it's rubbing on the sheaves or something. The stiffness of the line and possibly the weight may be relevant as well I guess. You'll get slightly less windage from a thinner topping lift as well but, lovely boat though a Sabre 27 is, I wouldn't have thought you'd worried about that.

As others have said - if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
 
Rw
dancrane said:
I don't like to disrespect the Jimmy Green tables, but...why are "recommended line sizes" always so tight-fistedly economical? The best change I ever made to my dinghy was upgrading from a standard 10mm mainsheet to a soft 14mm which I could grip in any weather...

...and the standard blocks - which I presume were meant to take nothing thicker than 10mm - were perfectly fine with 14mm.
Click to expand...

14mm!!!!!! For a dinghy main sheet?????

The mainsheet on my 49er, yes 49er, is 6mm...
 
Jeepers, this thread seems older than it is! I wrote about my old Topper's 14mm mainsheet a few weeks before buying an Osprey with an 8mm mainsheet... :rolleyes:

In truth I switched a couple of blocks round so that I can now run a decent 10mm braided line through the 4:1 set-up...

...but I wouldn't relish gripping the bit of string which was there, for long, on a day too gusty to use the cam jammer.

Thicker-than-necessary lines may hang heavy in light winds, create aerodynamic drag, weigh more, cost more and need bigger, costlier blocks...

...but they're a real pleasure to haul in or tweak constantly. I never regretted using 14mm on the Topper...I do regret not keeping the tackle for the 'new' boat.

I entirely respect your knowledge of dinghies Iain, but I don't know whether to admire or sympathise with you for your choice of load-bearing line!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top