Why use h260 rope jib halyard to raise mast w gin pole, and not roller furler wire stay? Wire seems stronger than 5/16 rope or often 1/4 rope.
Why use h260 rope jib halyard to raise mast not my roller furler wire stay?
- Thread starter Davenport
- Start date
When you say "roller furler wire stay" are you referring to the forestay? Is that the one that you connect to the boat to hold up the mast. If so, using it to raise the mast would require disconnecting the loaded stay to make the final connection. Also, for safety when, using this method, you would want to transfer the load to the halyard to hold the mast in place while you hook on the "RF wire stay". So.... using the halyard from the onset saves a step, and is safer. The rope is plenty strong enough to lift the mast. While line strength is mportant (your halyard rope is plenty strong enough to lift the mast) the most important concerns would the halyard block or sheave connection to the mast, and the connection between halyard and shackle. So, inspect both of those, especially the halyard shackle. The best connection is the D shaped, captive pin shackle attached to the halyard rope with a halyard hitch or a luggage tag eye splice.
or a luggage eye loop
jssailem
SBO Weather and Forecasting Forum Jim & John
- Oct 22, 2014
- 24,641
Facts beat “seems stronger”.
From Hunter Specifications for a 260.
Main Halyard
If your boat is using OEM lines then they are still likely Yacht Braid polyester but the XLS lines then it would still have a bbreaking strength greater than the steel wire.
FROM: Samson Specifications. 5/16" Samson XLS yacht braid rope has a breaking strength of 3089 lbs.
As @Joe has shared, your halyards are more than capable of supporting your mast as you hoist it. Additionally you will find them a whole lot easier to handle than 1/8” diameter stainless steel wire. You can run them through a block and make you process even easier.
Even 1/4 inch diameter Samson XLS3 has a working load of 480 lbs (easily can lift your mast) and a breaking strength of plus 2000 lbs.
From Hunter Specifications for a 260.
Main Halyard
- Material: 1/8" (3.2 mm) stainless steel wire
- Breaking Strength: Approximately 1,780 pounds
If your boat is using OEM lines then they are still likely Yacht Braid polyester but the XLS lines then it would still have a bbreaking strength greater than the steel wire.
FROM: Samson Specifications. 5/16" Samson XLS yacht braid rope has a breaking strength of 3089 lbs.
As @Joe has shared, your halyards are more than capable of supporting your mast as you hoist it. Additionally you will find them a whole lot easier to handle than 1/8” diameter stainless steel wire. You can run them through a block and make you process even easier.
Even 1/4 inch diameter Samson XLS3 has a working load of 480 lbs (easily can lift your mast) and a breaking strength of plus 2000 lbs.
My rope does look like 1/4 (4/16) not 5/16, so it does seem the OEM rope was thick 5/16 but over time switched to 1/4. . . Given the angles while lifting I think the force felt is many many times the mast weight, so using metal wire w gin pole seemed safer than rope. . . A person could add a thick rope looped horizontally around mast above the wing strut spacer thing, and have friend keep this tight in case the thinner rope breaks. My rope is old and I am cheap about replacing. D
Your rope may be stretched out. Perhaps it was 5/16 when it was new. In addition to the reasons mentioned above, you have a high probability of kinking your forestay. Those kinks never really come out and may affect the functionality of your furler
The main reason for not using the wire is it is too long. To completely raise the mast, the gin pole needs to remain at 90 degrees to the mast. That puts it at cabin height above the bow with the mast up. Any lower (if you used the wire) and the pole runs into interference before the mast is fully up. 10 years of using the rope haulyards to lift the mast, I never had a problem. As stated, low stretch yatch braid designed for haulyards has plenty of strength.