Halyards and Jibs

[Mike]

I will be repalceing my Halyards adnd sheets. the original spec. for the cordage is 3/8. this spec. dates back to 1984. Technology in roap has improved. I want to use 5/16 cordage such as Yale ULS dacorn with a breaking strength of 2800 lbs. Looking for feed back from anyone who has done the same.

 

[Steve Dion]

Stay with the correct size.

Mike:I would suggest that you stay with the size that was originally on the boat. I am saying this from experience. I was going to change from 7/16 to 1/2 halyards on my boat and found that they did not fit the sheaves properly. They caused more friction. I would personally go with Sta-Set but I'm sure that Yale makes good quality stuff too. Be sure that you have your shackles on an eye and not tied on with a knot. A knot can weaken the line up to 80% of it rated strength. Obviously the sheets can be of the larger size if you think that it is necessary.As you mentioned, line technology has come forward quite a bit in the last 15 years. There is no real need to go larger.

 

[Steve O.]

and one more thing...

Larger diameter lines are easier on the hands.

 

[Doug T.]

Appropriate cordage

You can probably count on the fact that the original halyard was not the most expensive stuff in the world. Even so, 3/8" on a 22 foot boat was probably waaaaay overkill (cheap stuff of that size is rated at 3,700 lbs). 5/16" Sta-Set is rated at 3,000 lbs. Sta-Set X is 4,400 lbs and has 2/3 the stretch of Sta-Set. (It's trickier to splice, though.)

 

[John Owen]

Not sure why you want to change but make sure that the new line will fit the sheaves properly. I don't think smalleer line is really going to buy you any advantage. Also, larger line is much easier on the hands. I replaced all the halyards and sheets on my h22 w/ 3/8 and am very happy. 'Used different colors to code for main halyard, jib halyard, mainsheet and jibsheets.