This is a followup to my previous post regarding changing from wire to rope genoa halyard. I have a 1982 C-22. To change to 5/16" rope, will I have to change the masthead sheave?
Changing halyard material
- Thread starter Rappsailor
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yes
yes... catalina direct has seperate sheaves for all rope halyards you need to change those over for proper operation
yes... catalina direct has seperate sheaves for all rope halyards you need to change those over for proper operation
rappsailor..
build yourself, or have one built for you, a "tapered halyard" where the core of the line is 3/16th hi tech single braid, such as Samson Tech 12, and is sheathed by an inexpensive polyester 5/16th cover over the end that is handled and cleated. The single braid will run easily through the existing sheave, while the covered part cleats well and fits the hand and winch. Go to Annapolis Performance Sailing website for more info.
build yourself, or have one built for you, a "tapered halyard" where the core of the line is 3/16th hi tech single braid, such as Samson Tech 12, and is sheathed by an inexpensive polyester 5/16th cover over the end that is handled and cleated. The single braid will run easily through the existing sheave, while the covered part cleats well and fits the hand and winch. Go to Annapolis Performance Sailing website for more info.
Halyards
Change your halyards, but don't go too crazy. I changed mine to 3/8 inch halyard, two different colors for main and headsail and changed the sheaves (Catalina Direct). I then installed a shackle with a captive pin at the halyard bitter end to fasten to the sail(s). I changed them because the ends of the wire halyards were chewing up my hands, "Meathooks". Let's face it, it's just a 22 foot boat. Don't go too nuts on it. Buy good 3/8in halyard from West Marine, it won't stretch. Measure your old ones and add 10 feet. The whole deal cost me under $100 and an hours worth of work. Campy
Change your halyards, but don't go too crazy. I changed mine to 3/8 inch halyard, two different colors for main and headsail and changed the sheaves (Catalina Direct). I then installed a shackle with a captive pin at the halyard bitter end to fasten to the sail(s). I changed them because the ends of the wire halyards were chewing up my hands, "Meathooks". Let's face it, it's just a 22 foot boat. Don't go too nuts on it. Buy good 3/8in halyard from West Marine, it won't stretch. Measure your old ones and add 10 feet. The whole deal cost me under $100 and an hours worth of work. Campy
We just Changed the Jib Sheet
Rapp: We changed just the Jib halyard to rope on our C-22. The reason for this is that now we can bring the shackle all the way up to the bow pulpit when the sail is being hanked on. Being able to do this made my wife happy. Keep in mind that rope, or line, is now much stronger than it was when our C-22s were made. There are a few things that I do want to tell you. I did change the pulleys at the masthead. I actually made my own, because I have the tooling to do this and it only took a few minutes to turn the pulleys. Also, I put a thinner plate between the pulleys, that I also made. There is a plate that keeps the lines from getting crossed, if I remember correctly. I just checked a scrap of the line that I used and it is 5/16 inches in diameter. I did purchase it from West Marine, but I must mention that the first line that I ordered from their catalog was too stiff, and I had to return it. (I couldn't coil it up into the nice little coils at the bottom of the mast). The line that I have now is OK. If there's a West Marine store near you, and they are building them like McDonalds, you can make sure that you get the right line. You want line that doesn't stretch, but still can be coiled up near the cleat on the mast. I also must tell you that we had to add a winch onto the mast when we converted to line from the SS wire halyard. The line just won't stay as tight as the SS wire unless you can tension it with a winch. Actually we needed the winch anyway, but converting to line forced us to get it so that we could properly tension the luffs of our sails. I just remembered one more thing on this issue. We also changed to line from the SS wire halyard because our big jib, a Drifter, had such a long luff that wire would make it all the way to the cleat on the mast and then still have about 3 to 5 feet extra. We would have to wrap this around the downhaul cleat and then back to the jib halyard cleat. This wasn't great, but the all line jib halyard solved this problem. My main halyard is still wire rope. I'm not sure why, unless it is because it has less drag than a line halyard, and it runs along the front of the mast, when the jibs line runs along the rear of the mast. Also, it doesn't stretch much, and hasn't been a problem. I also used line with red and green tracers for the jib and main halyards, respectively. I hope this info. helps you. Aldo This is a followup to my previous post regarding changing from wire to rope genoa halyard. I have a 1982 C-22. To change to 5/16" rope, will I have to change the masthead sheave?
Rapp: We changed just the Jib halyard to rope on our C-22. The reason for this is that now we can bring the shackle all the way up to the bow pulpit when the sail is being hanked on. Being able to do this made my wife happy. Keep in mind that rope, or line, is now much stronger than it was when our C-22s were made. There are a few things that I do want to tell you. I did change the pulleys at the masthead. I actually made my own, because I have the tooling to do this and it only took a few minutes to turn the pulleys. Also, I put a thinner plate between the pulleys, that I also made. There is a plate that keeps the lines from getting crossed, if I remember correctly. I just checked a scrap of the line that I used and it is 5/16 inches in diameter. I did purchase it from West Marine, but I must mention that the first line that I ordered from their catalog was too stiff, and I had to return it. (I couldn't coil it up into the nice little coils at the bottom of the mast). The line that I have now is OK. If there's a West Marine store near you, and they are building them like McDonalds, you can make sure that you get the right line. You want line that doesn't stretch, but still can be coiled up near the cleat on the mast. I also must tell you that we had to add a winch onto the mast when we converted to line from the SS wire halyard. The line just won't stay as tight as the SS wire unless you can tension it with a winch. Actually we needed the winch anyway, but converting to line forced us to get it so that we could properly tension the luffs of our sails. I just remembered one more thing on this issue. We also changed to line from the SS wire halyard because our big jib, a Drifter, had such a long luff that wire would make it all the way to the cleat on the mast and then still have about 3 to 5 feet extra. We would have to wrap this around the downhaul cleat and then back to the jib halyard cleat. This wasn't great, but the all line jib halyard solved this problem. My main halyard is still wire rope. I'm not sure why, unless it is because it has less drag than a line halyard, and it runs along the front of the mast, when the jibs line runs along the rear of the mast. Also, it doesn't stretch much, and hasn't been a problem. I also used line with red and green tracers for the jib and main halyards, respectively. I hope this info. helps you. Aldo This is a followup to my previous post regarding changing from wire to rope genoa halyard. I have a 1982 C-22. To change to 5/16" rope, will I have to change the masthead sheave?
to tom b. advantage of tapered halyards.
Tom... in my case the prime reason for the tapered halyrd was to avoid changing the sheave, 1/4 was max size allowed. so that's one very big reason. The other advantages to tapered halyards are that it is much lighter,less windage and minimal stretch.(important if you race), It runs very well through the sheaves, and the thick end winches and cleats well, the Samson Tech 12 core is stronger than 1/8 inch wire, if you splice a large eye in the end you can "luggage tag" the shackle for easy removal, and finally.... no meat hooks. Take the time to visit www.apsltd.com to see some examples. You'll also save lots of money over west marine.
Tom... in my case the prime reason for the tapered halyrd was to avoid changing the sheave, 1/4 was max size allowed. so that's one very big reason. The other advantages to tapered halyards are that it is much lighter,less windage and minimal stretch.(important if you race), It runs very well through the sheaves, and the thick end winches and cleats well, the Samson Tech 12 core is stronger than 1/8 inch wire, if you splice a large eye in the end you can "luggage tag" the shackle for easy removal, and finally.... no meat hooks. Take the time to visit www.apsltd.com to see some examples. You'll also save lots of money over west marine.
Sheaves
Sheaves are extremely simple to change. Quite frankly, with the length of the Catalina 22 halyards, the weight saved by switching halyard is nominal. Your talking less than a pound either way (way less than two at the most). I don't think a pound or two of weight aloft is going to make anyone win or loose a race. I've got to come clean however, I don't race nor do I care to race. But I do cruise my boat (C-22 named Windsocket) and larger boats, most recently a Tayana58 from BVI to Newport in May. Fix your stuff safely and get on the water man! Have a good weekend on the boat! Campy
Sheaves are extremely simple to change. Quite frankly, with the length of the Catalina 22 halyards, the weight saved by switching halyard is nominal. Your talking less than a pound either way (way less than two at the most). I don't think a pound or two of weight aloft is going to make anyone win or loose a race. I've got to come clean however, I don't race nor do I care to race. But I do cruise my boat (C-22 named Windsocket) and larger boats, most recently a Tayana58 from BVI to Newport in May. Fix your stuff safely and get on the water man! Have a good weekend on the boat! Campy
changing sheaves.
on my C27 the masthead fitting has limited clearance for increased width. Changing the sheaves required climbing the mast without any assurance that larger ones could be fitted. Dropping the mast for this project was not an option, I simply needed a new halyard and I didn't want wire. The tapered halyard was a no-brainer for my situation. Interestingly enough, by shopping online for the cordage and doing my own splices (intructions on the Samson website) the cost of the halyard was cheaper than purchasing a prebuilt one from the local west marine. BUT the biggest advantage was the fun I had making it and the admiring comments I receive from other sailors.
on my C27 the masthead fitting has limited clearance for increased width. Changing the sheaves required climbing the mast without any assurance that larger ones could be fitted. Dropping the mast for this project was not an option, I simply needed a new halyard and I didn't want wire. The tapered halyard was a no-brainer for my situation. Interestingly enough, by shopping online for the cordage and doing my own splices (intructions on the Samson website) the cost of the halyard was cheaper than purchasing a prebuilt one from the local west marine. BUT the biggest advantage was the fun I had making it and the admiring comments I receive from other sailors.
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