Seeking running rigging recommendations

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Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Guys, let me first start off by saying I've got a pretty bad case of top-of-the-line-itis. You know, always upgrading stuff, and spending way too much money.

So, for my 192, although the running rigging works, it's old and tired double braid polyester, which stretches like a rubber band. And it's gettin' replaced.

But unlike my other boat, where I replaced wood seats with brand new mahogany, and brand new standing rigging, and brand new Dyneema core running rigging, and brand new Harken hardware where needed, with my 192, I think I'm ready for functional but not expensive. I've just been spending too much. So, for new cleats, I'm going to try Viadana instead of Harken, stuff like that.

Before my realization that I couldn't just spend money willy-nilly, I had planned on replacing jib, main, and spin halyards with 1/4" Vectran cored Yale Crystalyne. Very nice line, very performance oriented, but not inexpensive.

A guy from another forum recommend New England VPC, which is a Dyneema poly-pro blended core with a polyester cover, not too stretchy, intended to be a lower cost entry into high-end lines, and a decent step up from double braid polyester.

For sheets, I had previously used FSE Robline Racing Sheet, a nice Dyneema Cordura blended single braid, on my other boat. I like that it runs through blocks well, and has a really nice feel on the hands. But it's a bit expensive, so I was thinking of trying a similar blended line from Maffioli, their Swift Cord, which is a few cents/foot cheaper. But now I'm thinking about it, and I know my main sheet will be partially exposed all the time, and if I use my roller furler, so will the jib sheet. And I'm wondering how well that blended line will hold up to UV, especially since the best jib sheet routing is between the upper and lower shrouds, so abrasion is also a concern. However, since I do a fair amount of light wind cruising in the summer, I don't want line that's too heavy, either.

What do you guys use for your running rigging? What do you like, and why? What's working well for you?

Also, what do you use for your halyard shackles? This site's chandlery appears to use Ronstan RF1032 3/16" halyard shackles on their halyards (which are double braid polyester, by the way.) I use the same for my 15 footer's halyards. I like the utility of the shackles, but are they strong enough for the main and jib on a 192? I know the main halyard shackle that came with the 192 is 2-3 times bigger than this nice Ronstan. Do I need to go that big?

Thanks,
Brian
 
Jun 9, 2008
1,801
- -- -Bayfield
Good old Samson line is very good cordage and they have every day run of the mill XLS for halyards and Trophy Braid for sheets and the cost is easy to deal with. They are low stretch and come in a variety of colors. Why get high tech line for your boat when the basics will do just fine. Samson has all the high tech you don't need at a higher price, but their basic lines are perfect for your purposes and they are easy to splice (with the fid and pusher for the size line you wish to splice). Ronstan has a bunch of inexpensive halyard shackles that you can buy for your new line. That's my 2 cents.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,788
Catalina 30 Mk II Cedar Creek, Bayville NJ
I like the Ronston halyard schackles. The loose key pin allows you to install or replace the shackle on the halyard eye splice. If you need to buy a new halyard you can easily switch the old shackle to it.
The Ronstan has a quarter turn release lever wich is almost as long as the shackle. I find it easier to use.
Have you looked at New England Sta Set line? It was recommended to me by a few guys for my 17' sailboat. I plan on using it for me 25' O'day when I change out the running rigging this spring.
 
Sep 25, 2008
992
Oday 25 Gibraltar
What size line do you have on it now? I agree, why go with high tech line for halyards and sheets? What are you gaining?
 
Jan 18, 2011
225
Hunter 26 Beaufort SC
Is there really a huge cost difference? Seems like when we replaced out sheets it was less than $75-100 total difference in cost to step up in quality, and I figured getting 5-10 years out of them. Not really a big deal.
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Ok, so here's my main idea. My old polyester halyards were 3/8", and heavy and stretchy.

I'd like to upgrade primarily to get something that doesn't stretch. Given line improvements, I'll get something equally or more strong, less diameter which means less weight aloft (not a big consideration, but still,) and non-stretchy.

Given a line length of 50', I can get 5/16" StaSet for $38, but it'll be stretchy. Not as much as the old halyards, but probably will need the jib halyard re-set from time to time.

VPC 5/16" will cost me $55. (I can still probably use 1/4" VPC if I want.)

Yale Crystalyne 1/4" would cost $64.

Obviously the best choice price-wise is the StaSet polyester, which I don't want for performance reasons, though it would work, and work well.

So, if I have my heart set on higher tech line, that means either VPC or Crytalyne. The difference between the two would only be $27.

Looking at VPC at 1/4", the tensile strength is 3,200 pounds, enough to lift greater than 2 of my boats. So, 1/4" VPC is more than strong enough, and reduces the cost of a halyard to $38.

So, given the decision to get high-tech line, 1/4" VPC is the same cost as 5/16" StaSet, and I can still save $75 over Crystalyne for 3 halyards.

Hrumph, looks like I may be getting VPC halyards, which come highly recommended by some guys on another forum.

Thanks!
Brian
 
Nov 9, 2012
2,500
Oday 192 Lake Nockamixon
Have gotten additional info regarding working loads, and elongation percentages, etc. Figuring that my winch might be able to increase leverage by a factor of 6, and that I would probably put roughly 320 or so pounds of force on a halyard, etc... and that you maybe want 10% of tensile strength as your working load...

StaSet has about 1% elongation at 10% of breaking strength, VPC about 1.25% elongation. So, if I were to select StaSet or VPC, I'd want 5/16" line, because 1/4" would be right at the limit, and the VPC would have more stretch anyway. Crystalyne has much less elongation, and at 5000# tensile on 1/4" line, I wouldn't come anywhere near a 10% working load.

The running rigging calculator here at this site's chandlery is recommending 1/4" Samson XLS, which is a polyester double braid, equivalent to StaSet. I don't think that's good enough for me, even though it is. See, I'm way over-upgrading...

So, it looks like I might be sticking with my original Crystalyne 1/4", because it's only $30 more than 5/16" VPC...

Brian
 
Jan 24, 2005
4,881
Oday 222 Dighton, Ma.
I use Sta-Set X 5/16" braid line for my halyards and I spliced on quick release shackles myself. It's important to buy the proper thickness for your halyards so that they will fit in the mast sheaves without hanging up. My main halyard is a white line with green flecks and my Jib halyard is white with red flecks.
 

Ward H

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Nov 7, 2011
3,788
Catalina 30 Mk II Cedar Creek, Bayville NJ
I always over think things but I think you got me beat. ;);)
I, like Joe, color code my lines.
I think my 25'r calls for 5/16" halyards and I will use NE Sta Set or Samson equilevant.
I think the main thing is to get a line you can easily handle. I would rather raise the sail with 5/16 line than 1/4. Just a bit more to grab onto.

And there is nothing wrong with a bit of overkill if you are having fun doing it.
 
Apr 8, 2010
1,606
Frers 33 41426 Westport, CT
Check out this calculator I built a couple years back when I replaced my Halyards with Sta-Set X. It works for sheets or halyards.

Plug in the tensile strength rating for whatever line you are considering and the sail area of the sail you are using the line for. It will automatically calculate the maximum wind load that the line should see based on different wind speed conditions using a standard formula I found for line loading on sail boats.

The chart will show you the % working load for each wind speed, and also changes color based on a safety margin indicating which line size is considered safe for a given wind speed.

Take the % working load from the chart for any given wind speed and you can compare that against the manufacturers data sheet to determine what the maximum amount of stretch the line will have.

This is actually calculating sheet loading, so halyards should be even less than indicated

http://sailingit.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/halyard-size-calc.xlsx

http://sailingit.com/blog/boat-projects/new-halyards
 
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