Wire Halyards ??

[Matt341]

Hi All, During the summer the main sail halyard which was wire started to fray and only had a few strands remaining in certain areas. Half was rope until it came through the roller at the top of the mast and just before that it turned into wire. In a dash to save it from snapping I attached a new length of 8mm rope and pulled it all through. We now have a nice new rope halyard which goes through the rollers and blocks fine, and doesn't have such an irritating clank either. But, when we took the sails off a few months ago I noticed the jib halyard was also fraying where it had been in the roller for a long period. I spoke to a yacht chandler who said this is better off being rope because wire doesn't like sitting in rollers for long periods as it does bend. So I have bought 8mm rope to now do the same with the jib halyard as I did with the main.

I had a look around the marina and I would say 90% of boats all have rope halyards.

So just to check, am I ok to replace the wire with rope instead ?? My main concern was it not fitting through the roller but this seems to be ok as they look quite big and it worked fine with the main halyard.

Thanks
Ian

 

[lw395]

You don't say what size boat, 8mm rope would be small for a main halyard on many boats!
Have a look at the Marlow ropes website for size guidance, or possibly Jimmy Green Marine. The issue is likely to be stretch rather than absolute strength.

 

[Matt341]

Thanks for the info. She is 28 foot. I was told by the chandler to go for 6mm so glad I went for the 8mm now.

Ian

 

[sailorman]

Yes but i replaced with Dyneema.
8 m/m is small what boat

 

[Boat44]

Rollers of that vintage will generally have an additioanl slot in them to take wire so will deal with rope fine provided it is not too fat. You wont have any worries there as some of the new fancy ropes are mind boggling strong.

We had some halyards that were wire and rope. All have been repalced with rope by the good folks at Spencers.

 

[sailorman]

8 m/m wot rope

 

[Matt341]

Hi, The rope is Liros. It has a breaking load of 1.5 tonne.

Thanks
Ian

 

[sailorman]

i would have gone for 12m/m for comfort alone in handling on a 28 footer it will also have less stretch than 8 m/m

 

[Matt341]

My main concern though is the size of the roller, I went up in the bosuns chair and 8mm seems to fit just ok but any larger size would probably get stuck.

Should it be replaced with wire instead ???

Thanks
Ian

 

[sailorman]

the rope is more that strong enough but too small to handle comfortably

 

[Searush]

[ QUOTE ]
the rope is more that strong enough but too small to handle comfortably

[/ QUOTE ]

Given that there is a winch, all you need to do keep the winch tailed, so 8mm will not be that uncomfortable. I wouldn't want to be swigging it taut without a winch tho'.

"Iron Hand, Muscles, Sea Rush" has pontificated again /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[roger]

I wonder about the rope halyard fraying in the masthead sheave. Perhaps the sheave itself has been damaged by the wire and has sharp edges. Perhaps it does not turn easily or at all.

 

[Abestea]

That is one of the biggest problems of changing from Wire to Rope Halyards. I changed over last year and i had to replace all the sheaves in the mast as well as the jib halyard box. They were all groovy and scored quite badly. Rope halyards would not have lasted long.

Also the wire sheave box is usually a bit narrower and if your 8mm rope is just passing through then be careful for it being too big for the sheaves and rubbing against the side wall.

Replacing them all did require my mast to be removed but the difference was dramatic.

 

[simonfraser]

agree with other posters, dyneema is the way to go.

 

[William_H]

Assuming all your sheaves and boxes are wide enough no problems replacing with Dyneema or similar. Ordinay rope will stretch so much as to be anoying needing retensioning after a little time.
To minimise chafe at pulleys do not fit a shackle at the sail head end but rather just u8se a bowline knot. Each time you tie it on or on a regular basis move the tie on point up or down the rope by a few inches so moving the chafe point. ollewill

 

[johnphilip]

Although Dyneema is horrid expensive, replacing wire with ordinary braid will result in that irritating sight of rounding up on the beat and seeing the halliard has stretched with a sagging luff on the genoa or main. This is just when it is most awkward to re-tension the halliard. Dyneema sometimes available at better price on E bay, if you trust the seller,

 

[dunedin]

Depends very much on rope spec - cheap rope will steretch badly, and not strong. Modern high spec ropes, at the more expensive end of the range, will not stretch (but need to be careful about sunlight damage on some)