Which rope?

[howardclark]

The halyard for our main is a pain. It’s 30m long, and either braid on a strand core or perhaps braid on braid. After hoisting correctly, give it 30 minutes and there is a sag in the sail which requires two people to go to the mast to retighten it. Then it doesn’t recur. In mild conditions this is no problem, but when you’re bouncing around in a blow then we could do without it!
Speaking to our sail maker he says this is a common problem with these types of rope where the core and sleeve are separate.
So if I change the halyard is the only option old fashioned 3 strand which isn’t as nice to handle?
Thanks for any advice

 

[Snowgoose-1]

Some folks have switched to dyneema halyards. Virtually no stretch.
Worked well for me.

Pricey , but you can get deals on ebay sometimes.

 

[michael_w]

Dyneema.

 

[dunedin]

Definitely NOT 3 strand for a halyard.
Any decent modern rope should be OK - but best for this might be cruising dyneema, dyneema core with conventional outer.
We use Liros Dynamic Plus from Jimmy Green Marine, but pmenty of other options.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

There is not a sailboat on the water which wouldn’t be better for the use of dyneema halyards. Ebay, Jimmy Green offcuts, it doesn't have to be grand prix racing stuff. Premium dyneema is better, but marginal for most boats. Just cruising dyneema is a quantum leap over polyester.

 

[ashtead]

We changed our main halyard to dyneema -there are a number of different qualities/prices but we went based on a riggers advice -it’s much stiffer stuff than your old existing halyard so doesn’t coil so well and when freeing the halyard to drop main you have to watch it more as it runs through block to avoid it catching . Otherwise apart from price no real downside plus you also then have a spare main halyard for emergency use . A Winchard shackle attached are useful if buying a new halyard

 

[Neeves]

All our halyards except the spinnaker on both our X99, 35 years ago, and then our 11.5m cat, 25 years ago were dyneema. The sheets were also dyneema (often retired hayards).

Jonathan

 

[ithet]

I have a *cruising dyneema" halyard which helps a lot with the sag. Can go down a size also. Another option is to add a Cunningham downhaul which I also have.

 

[johnalison]

Never happened with my wire halyard. Not really a recommendation since wire is now widely disliked, but when it came to replacing it there was a problem that the sheave might have worn a groove that wouldn’t accept Dyneema, so I replaced like for like.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Never happened with my wire halyard. Not really a recommendation since wire is now widely disliked, but when it came to replacing it there was a problem that the sheave might have worn a groove that wouldn’t accept Dyneema, so I replaced like for like.

A part of the beauty of dyneema is the DIY splicing. Wire is possible, but it’s a bitch to work with, plus dyneema is a fraction of the weight. But wire at least does not stretch much. Replacing sheaves with wire halyards, you should probably do that every few years. They definitely go a different shape from new

 

[johnalison]

A part of the beauty of dyneema is the DIY splicing. Wire is possible, but it’s a bitch to work with, plus dyneema is a fraction of the weight. But wire at least does not stretch much. Replacing sheaves with wire halyards, you should probably do that every few years. They definitely go a different shape from new

Maybe should, but mine were still functional after 25 yr and well over a virtual circumnavigation. Not my problem now.

 

[MikeBz]

We have a cruising Dyneema main halyard and still have the same problem as the OP. I reckon it’s creep not stretch in our case, maybe because it’s cleated in a clutch?

 

[dunedin]

We have a cruising Dyneema main halyard and still have the same problem as the OP. I reckon it’s creep not stretch in our case, maybe because it’s cleated in a clutch?

Shouldn't have that issue if a reputable cruising dyneema and a reputable clutch- which is in good condition.
Have you checked the clutch teeth for wear?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Shouldn't have that issue if a reputable cruising dyneema and a reputable clutch- which is in good condition.
Have you checked the clutch teeth for wear?

It's either the clutch, or it's not dyneema.

 

[MikeBz]

Interesting, thanks. I’ll try marking it just above the clutch next time and see if it moves.

 

[William_H]

I had a wire /braid rope main halyard for many years on my little trailer sailer. Came need to replace I could not find anyone to do as new splice wire to rope. Treied myself to do it but just not doable. I resorted to 4mm dyneema and spliced it to polyester braid tail for handling winching. Splice was a bit difficult /crude but seems to be OK where it goes in to mast at the bottom. Splicing thimble on at the top very easy.
So if I had to do it again I would use the 4mm dyneema but try to feed it inside the polyester braid tail right to the end.
I have had for some years a dyneema halyard for the jib. 6mm polyester cover which did stretch then 8mm polyester covered dyneema and that also stretches a little. I don't know how these fit in to "cruising dyneema" But yes dyneema is the way to go for OP. ol'will

 

[Neeves]

It's either the clutch, or it's not dyneema.

Interesting, thanks. I’ll try marking it just above the clutch next time and see if it moves.

Some older dyneema has had problems of the dyneema slipping inside the cover for unstayed headsails. It was not uncommon for the cover to catastrophically fail the and the dyneema to slip big time. The solution, at the time, was to crank up the halyard, to engender a straight luff, lock the rope in the clutch and leave the rope under tension on the winch (you needed spare winches).

If you mark the cover and the sail has slackened but the cover has not moved its the dyneema slipping inside the cover. The dyneema, if it is dyneema, will not noticeably stretch.

Jonathan

 

[phlip]

This probably isn’t OP’s problem, but maybe it’ll save someone time and money. We kept finding that our main halyard clutch (spinlock XXA or XXB) had rendered (uncommanded slip), leaving us with a wrinkly luff, and other undesired effects. Tactically we solved it by keeping the line on the winch, but that was inconvenient and eroded safety margin by tying up the winch. We tried replacing the (very expensive) internals of the clutch, sleeving the halyard at the critical point by threading stuff into the core to make it fatter, and eventually re-splicing the head end to move “new” rope into the clutch by shortening it: no banana. Eventually I figured it out: when a specific crew member opened the clutch to lower the main, they didn’t open it all the way (through ~180 degrees), only enough to free the halyard (about 90 degrees). This denied the clutch the full reset/recharge of its internals that was needed to properly grip the rope on the next cycle, so cause and effect were often hours or days apart.
Solution: cycle the clutch fully before raising sail.

p.s.
I am not sure this is relevant to smaller clutches (XTS and similar), that grip their ropes differently (and less gently): we have never had similar issues with those.