Cable halyard?

Jan 27, 2017
4
O'Day 25 Isleton
I'm looking at an O'Day 25 as my first boat. I'm buying it from a guy who never really got into sailing so couldn't answer many questions. I noticed that both the main and jib halyards are steel cables going through the pullys on top of the mast and then are tied to lines making up the working end. I haven't sailed many boats but it seems that the halyards have been a continuous line. Does this seem normal?
 
Jan 1, 2006
7,039
Slickcraft 26 Sailfish
It was normal in the seventies. They were that era's answer for low stretch. Now cordage can equal the low stretch of the wire, with less weight. But those halyards are getting pretty old. If you replace them with new cordage you can reduce the diameter but should replace the mast sheaves (At the top) because they are likely shaped for wire, not cordage (Vee shaped grooves, not round.) You can continue to use wire to rope but will probably need a rigger to do the splice. You may also want to get you ski runaway straps updated to ski brakes.
 
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Jan 27, 2017
4
O'Day 25 Isleton
Makes sense on the halyard, I'll give the cable an extra close look. As to the last sentence in your reply, not familiar with any of that...Thanks!
 

Johnb

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Jan 22, 2008
1,419
Hunter 37-cutter Richmond CA
On my old boat some of the strands in the cable had broken, turned into meat hooks and will tear your hands pretty badly, so be wary of running it through your fingers to assess the condition.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
As to the last sentence in your reply, not familiar with any of that...Thanks!
Snow ski bindings back in the olden days used to use straps around the ankle, so if you fell and the binding released, the ski would drag along with you and beat you up - but not ski off down the mountain. Nowadays, they have spring-loaded retractible brakes that when you release, they spring down below the bottom of the ski, so they drag and prevent the ski going down the mountain, and from banging all into you. Except when they don't, and the skis keep on going. Parents all ski down and pick up kid's skis, and awkwardly try to side step back up the hill to the wiped out kid. Or your buddy to you. :D:D:D
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
I much prefer Dyneema or Vectran cored, polyester covered ropes for halyards to old wire or polyester double braid. If I had a high performance racing boat, I'd strip the cover off where the line goes up the mast, for less weight aloft. If you swap out the wire for rope, you should pull out the masthead sheaves, measure width and diameter, central shaft diameter, and look for a similar replacement for rope. Unless you have the tooling to mill out the V to a rounded shape for rope. No need to get spendy for a splice to your halyard shackle (you'll probably need a new halyard shackle, too,) just use a halyard hitch: http://www.animatedknots.com/halyard/#ScrollPoint
 
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Aug 3, 2012
2,542
Performance Cruising Telstar 28 302 Watkins Glen
...and snowboarders no longer use straps... turns out I have never seen a runaway snowboard.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
...and snowboarders no longer use straps... turns out I have never seen a runaway snowboard.
Yeah, I suspect if you crash hard enough to pull out of ratchet strap bindings, you won't be putting your board back on to get down the mountain - patrol will be bringing you down in the toboggan. :yikes:
 

jwing

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Jun 5, 2014
503
ODay Mariner Guntersville
My boat had the steel wire / fabric rope combo when I bought her. When the halyard rope disintegrated, I studied the options. I could not see any advantage of replacing a perfectly good masthead sheave and ditch perfectly good steel cable just to increase the length of rope that I needed to buy. Fortunately for me, I don't feel the need to conform to boat fashion shamers on the sailboat forums.
I ordered the rope that I needed to replace the handled end of the halyard from one of the many outfits that offer splicing services. They spliced the right fitting to the end of the rope for attachment to the wire. It worked out perfectly.
 
Nov 13, 2011
163
Oday 23 New River Az
Generally it is not a fitting, but rather a wire to rope splice. You wouldn't go though the expense of adding a new rope to an old cable with a splice, you would replace them both, so it ends up being less expensive to swap to all rope.