Would this be suitable for a dyneema soft shackle?

eddystone

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Found the large flat shackle attached to my main sheet block would not fit the shackle on new car and had to add a further shackle - would this be suitable for a soft shackle?Shackle.jpg
 
You could remove both the flat and the rounded D-shackle, fit a suitable-diameter eyebolt through the vacated post-hole in place of the shackle-pin, and secure THAT with an eyenut. Then a soft shackle 'loop' could be fed through the eyenut, down to the traveller's D-shackle, back up through the eyebolt's eye, then secured to itself.

Dyneema doesn't cope well with being bent around a tight radius ( The D:d problem ) so use a longer soft shackle in thinner cord, passed around twice. Sleeve the whole thing in antichafe tubing.

That'll 'rattle' quietly....
 
I've used a soft shackle on my mainsheet as it originally had a similar arrangement as pictured and rattled and sometimes jammed up. I used a small dyneema loop with a couple of small cable ties to secure each end securely and make sure it stays relatively stiff. Works for me with no visible abrasion. Also a long loop used from the boom end to the pulley to reduce the length of the mainsheet.
 
Don't mind me but the block and the car look as if they came from a smaller yacht for the car and a, much, bigger yacht for the block. if the block is the correct size then the shackle assembly and the car are far too small and trying to tidy up the string of shackles, with anything, is being distracted from any problems.

In addition to the existing picture a few words on the size of the main, maybe more pictures might clarify. This might be ideal for a soft shackle - but a soft shackle will not fit (or be too weak) to replace the shackles given the size of the car.

If eventually you want to make a 'stand up' soft shackle device then encasing the soft shackle in shrink cover, for rope not wiring, is ideal. The correct shank cover after being shrunk thickens the cover and makes it quite robust - it becomes like a stick or wand.

Jonathan
 
Originally the setup had a large spring which was meant to hold the block upright. A failure & a pain to fit as I removed it at the end of each season for layup.
I have had the same dynema shackle (45m2 mainsail) for the last 10 years. It also carries the 4;1 fine tune setup on the tail of the sheet
One advantage is that it allows easy rotation of the blocks, so one can sheet from a variety of angles when helming & I can select either block & tackle easily
 
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