Hey folks, I wanted to either confirm and/or correct rope sizes before ordering this year for my Catalina 22'. Last year I used some cheaper rope I bought at Walmart due to other more pressing expenses. And you know how the weather will affect these kinds of ropes after only one year. I'm assuming 5/16" for main/jib, the remaining being slightly smaller excluding dock ropes of course. I already have down hauls so for the jib/main sails as well as reefing line set-up. Any thoughts? Man, I can't wait to finish the bottom paint and get back in the water!
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Try the C22 National Association
It should be www.catalina22.org or something like that. They have copies of the manual with that information. See the link. Stu
It should be www.catalina22.org or something like that. They have copies of the manual with that information. See the link. Stu
Halyard line attached to wire?
Are you attaching this rope to wire? The original Catalina set up has a wire halyard with eyes to which a rope tail is attached. I think 5/16 line is fine for this, although you can use 3/8. If you are intending to use all line halyards, then I think you will have to go down to no larger than 1/4 to run properly over the sheaves in the mast truck, not to mention that you may want to change these sheaves to be more rope friendly. If you have external halyards, the best halyards are the wire rope halyards which have the rope spliced into the wire. These present a smooth surface to run easily past the spreader brackets and the steaming light. You need to use 1/8 wire with either 5/16 or 3/8 line. The wire should be thirty feet and the line should be thirty feet. While this necessitates a crimping tool, this tool can be used for other applications as well.
Are you attaching this rope to wire? The original Catalina set up has a wire halyard with eyes to which a rope tail is attached. I think 5/16 line is fine for this, although you can use 3/8. If you are intending to use all line halyards, then I think you will have to go down to no larger than 1/4 to run properly over the sheaves in the mast truck, not to mention that you may want to change these sheaves to be more rope friendly. If you have external halyards, the best halyards are the wire rope halyards which have the rope spliced into the wire. These present a smooth surface to run easily past the spreader brackets and the steaming light. You need to use 1/8 wire with either 5/16 or 3/8 line. The wire should be thirty feet and the line should be thirty feet. While this necessitates a crimping tool, this tool can be used for other applications as well.
Watch the wire length on a wire/line halyard
If you use the wire and line combo, I don't think 30' of wire is right...otherwise, the wire will need to be wrapped around the cleat at the base of the mast. It seems you need to look at the measurements of the forestay (mine is 26'3" and sail luff. My jib halyard has 26.7' of wire, and it works great for the jib, with a luff of just under 23'. That allows for 3.3' of wire at the top of the forestay, then 23.4' coming down the mast...and with the cleat 10" above the base of the 25' mast, I have 25'-10"-23.4'= less than 1' above the cleat for the wire to convert to line before the cleat. HERE's MY PROBLEM: My 150 genoa has a luff of 24'9". This fits on the forestay, leaving just 1'6" clearance before the masthead. Now, since I have 25' less 10" (24'2")coming down the mast to the cleat, I need a halyard wire of less than (24'2"+1'6")=25'8" or the wire will wrap around the cleat (quite ineffective to secure!). So, I'm getting ready to trim the wire portion of the jib halyard to about 24'6" so I can use it with the 150 genoa that I've not otherwise been able to use. Does this make sense, or am I missing something? At any rate, I don't think a 30' length of wire is the right length. FYI, the wire portion of my main halyard is 23'3".
If you use the wire and line combo, I don't think 30' of wire is right...otherwise, the wire will need to be wrapped around the cleat at the base of the mast. It seems you need to look at the measurements of the forestay (mine is 26'3" and sail luff. My jib halyard has 26.7' of wire, and it works great for the jib, with a luff of just under 23'. That allows for 3.3' of wire at the top of the forestay, then 23.4' coming down the mast...and with the cleat 10" above the base of the 25' mast, I have 25'-10"-23.4'= less than 1' above the cleat for the wire to convert to line before the cleat. HERE's MY PROBLEM: My 150 genoa has a luff of 24'9". This fits on the forestay, leaving just 1'6" clearance before the masthead. Now, since I have 25' less 10" (24'2")coming down the mast to the cleat, I need a halyard wire of less than (24'2"+1'6")=25'8" or the wire will wrap around the cleat (quite ineffective to secure!). So, I'm getting ready to trim the wire portion of the jib halyard to about 24'6" so I can use it with the 150 genoa that I've not otherwise been able to use. Does this make sense, or am I missing something? At any rate, I don't think a 30' length of wire is the right length. FYI, the wire portion of my main halyard is 23'3".
depends on your set up
I think we all need to remember everyone has a little different set up,. if you haev your lines run aft then your line will need to be longer. best way is to measure what you ahve and add or subtract to make it work best for you. but like Ed said you do not want your wire to be all the way down to the cleat.
I think we all need to remember everyone has a little different set up,. if you haev your lines run aft then your line will need to be longer. best way is to measure what you ahve and add or subtract to make it work best for you. but like Ed said you do not want your wire to be all the way down to the cleat.
Halyards
Got sick of the rope to wire fray that used to eat up my hands. Just installed all rope halyards on my 1973 hull #2226. Bought the sheaves from Catalina Direct and the rope from the local marina store. The Sheaves are for 1/4 inch diameter rope and the halyards are 60 feet long each halyard. (69 cents a foot... $90.00) Long enough to make it to the cockpit with the sails down. If you go to a thicker line you may have a problem getting hung up while exiting through the mast head or truck. Was a pretty straight forward install. Took the time to scrub the mast down with an commercially available aluminum scouring powder, and a stiff brush. Looks almost like new and I don't have chewed up hands anymore. Campy out
Got sick of the rope to wire fray that used to eat up my hands. Just installed all rope halyards on my 1973 hull #2226. Bought the sheaves from Catalina Direct and the rope from the local marina store. The Sheaves are for 1/4 inch diameter rope and the halyards are 60 feet long each halyard. (69 cents a foot... $90.00) Long enough to make it to the cockpit with the sails down. If you go to a thicker line you may have a problem getting hung up while exiting through the mast head or truck. Was a pretty straight forward install. Took the time to scrub the mast down with an commercially available aluminum scouring powder, and a stiff brush. Looks almost like new and I don't have chewed up hands anymore. Campy out
Halyards......... a suggestion
Allan, may I suggest you investigate the advantages of having a "tapered halyard" made for your C22. Follow the link to Annapolis Performance Sailing for pictures, rope prices and rope options. My C27 masthead sheaves will only accomodate 1/4 in diameter line. On the 27 the standard main halyard is 40ft of 1/8 inch wire spliced to 40ft of 3/8 inch rope. My answer to the 1/4 limitation was to build a halyard using a 3/16 technora core (stronger than steel) with a 5/16in Samson LS cover over the lower part that is handled. All my halyards go back to the cockpit so I have 80 ft of Tech 12 core and a 40 ft Samson LS cover. The cover can be anything you like because the strength is in the core. You can go to any of the rope manufacturers sites for splicing instructions or have the guys at APS build it for you. If you are interested in this solution give those guys a call and they'll walk you through it. All the racers use this method to keep weight down, but I think it is a great solution for the boats with internal halyard and narrow sheaves.
Allan, may I suggest you investigate the advantages of having a "tapered halyard" made for your C22. Follow the link to Annapolis Performance Sailing for pictures, rope prices and rope options. My C27 masthead sheaves will only accomodate 1/4 in diameter line. On the 27 the standard main halyard is 40ft of 1/8 inch wire spliced to 40ft of 3/8 inch rope. My answer to the 1/4 limitation was to build a halyard using a 3/16 technora core (stronger than steel) with a 5/16in Samson LS cover over the lower part that is handled. All my halyards go back to the cockpit so I have 80 ft of Tech 12 core and a 40 ft Samson LS cover. The cover can be anything you like because the strength is in the core. You can go to any of the rope manufacturers sites for splicing instructions or have the guys at APS build it for you. If you are interested in this solution give those guys a call and they'll walk you through it. All the racers use this method to keep weight down, but I think it is a great solution for the boats with internal halyard and narrow sheaves.
Another Idea
Alan: What I did was just change my jib halyard to rope, and left main halyard with the wire / rope combination that it originally came with. We had a problem similar to the one Ed described. We had to wrap wire around the cleat to the jib, and then up to the downhaul cleat under the boom, and then back to the jib cleat, to get rid of the extra wire, when we use our drifter that goes all the way up to the masthead. When we converted to all rope, this solved this problem. But, it created another one. We couldn't get the halyard tight enough since we didn't have a jib winch. I added one and don't know how I did without it. A benefit of an all rope jib halyard is it doesn't get stuck on the spreaders when you are using it. I originally ordered a stronger line something like Spectra, but it was too stiff to coil-up when the sail was up. I had to return it to West Marine, and get something softer, and less strong. (That's probably when I realized that I needed a jib halyard winch). Anyhow, there is a spacer between the sheaves at the masthead, and I remade this spacer from thin stainless steel. I think that the original one may have been about 1/8 inch thick aluminum. The one that I made was probably between .035 and .050 thick stainless steel. I made the replacement sheaves from delrin, but you can probably buy them. I don't have any problem with the wire halyard for the main. It's strong, and offers less wind resistance than a rope main halyard would. Remember that the main halyard runs down the front of the mast. Aldo
Alan: What I did was just change my jib halyard to rope, and left main halyard with the wire / rope combination that it originally came with. We had a problem similar to the one Ed described. We had to wrap wire around the cleat to the jib, and then up to the downhaul cleat under the boom, and then back to the jib cleat, to get rid of the extra wire, when we use our drifter that goes all the way up to the masthead. When we converted to all rope, this solved this problem. But, it created another one. We couldn't get the halyard tight enough since we didn't have a jib winch. I added one and don't know how I did without it. A benefit of an all rope jib halyard is it doesn't get stuck on the spreaders when you are using it. I originally ordered a stronger line something like Spectra, but it was too stiff to coil-up when the sail was up. I had to return it to West Marine, and get something softer, and less strong. (That's probably when I realized that I needed a jib halyard winch). Anyhow, there is a spacer between the sheaves at the masthead, and I remade this spacer from thin stainless steel. I think that the original one may have been about 1/8 inch thick aluminum. The one that I made was probably between .035 and .050 thick stainless steel. I made the replacement sheaves from delrin, but you can probably buy them. I don't have any problem with the wire halyard for the main. It's strong, and offers less wind resistance than a rope main halyard would. Remember that the main halyard runs down the front of the mast. Aldo
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