Wire/rope to be replaced with all 7/16 double braid - main halyard

[obdoor]

I'm in the process of replacing my wire/rope main halyard with a new 7/16 rope halyard that will have a new snap shackle captured in an eye on the new halyard. I will have to cut the wire eye off so as to render the old wire/rope into a messenger line to fit through the mast and sheaves. My quandary is what is best way( connection) to attach the bitter end of the new halyard to the wire end to assure a smooth routing of the new halyard through the mast and sheaves without the connection coming undone. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Capt jgw]

Last time I did this I decored the last six inches of the rope, then slid the cover over the end of the wire. Then secured that with electrical tape. Quite secure and should feed over the sheaves without difficulty.

 

[dlochner]

If you haven't ordered the line yet, get a reaving eye or a flemish eye spliced into the bitter end. Also purchase some ⅛" line to use as a messenger. Attach the messenger line to the the end of the old halyard by sewing the lines together and then secure with rigging tape. Pull the messenger line through the sheaves, tie the messenger line to the Flemish Eye on the new halyard and pull it back through the sheaves.

The last time I did this it took about 10 minutes and impressed a naive powerboat.

 

[LeslieTroyer]

It might be worth a hoist up the mast to see what shape the shive is in. If groved for/because of the wire you'll need to replace it b4 it ruins your new halyard

Les

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Last time I did this I decored the last six inches of the rope, then slid the cover over the end of the wire. Then secured that with electrical tape. Quite secure and should feed over the sheaves without difficulty.

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

 

[obdoor]

I'm in the process of replacing my wire/rope main halyard with a new 7/16 rope halyard that will have a new snap shackle captured in an eye on the new halyard. I will have to cut the wire eye off so as to render the old wire/rope into a messenger line to fit through the mast and sheaves. My quandary is what is best way( connection) to attach the bitter end of the new halyard to the wire end to assure a smooth routing of the new halyard through the mast and sheaves without the connection coming undone. Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Thanks to all of you guys. I think I'm going to sew a 1/4" line to the bitter end of the old halyard and pull it through as a messenger and sew the messenger together with the bitter end of new halyard and pull the new halyard through. Thanks for all of your sage advice.

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[obdoor]

Recently did the same on a friends jib halyard, except I tightly wrapped the halyard over the wire with fishing line.Gave it a really hard yank before sending it aloft

Thanks

 

[FastOlson]

7/16 seems huge for a 33 foot boat. When, many years ago, we changed out all of the original wire-to-rope halyards we used 5/16 T900 very low stretch line. Working fine after over a decade and they all hold in our old clutches and the ST cabin top winches.
They also run freely thru the sheaves at the mast head, whereas a trial fit with 3/8 showed some noticeable friction up there.

Les is right about checking the old sheaves for roughness. We pulled all of ours out and gently turned/smoothed them on a lathe, so that the spendy new line would not be abraided.

 

[Ron20324]

Feed the new from the aft side of the mast, then down the mast.. It will go easier than trying to haul it up the mast and out the rear.

 

[NYSail]

Thanks to all of you guys. I think I'm going to sew a 1/4" line to the bitter end of the old halyard and pull it through as a messenger and sew the messenger together with the bitter end of new halyard and pull the new halyard through. Thanks for all of your sage advice.

Best and easiest way to do it.... enjoy!

 

[Joe]

Pay attention to fast Olsen's comment.... Older boats that used wire to rope halyards often had smaller diameter sheaves up top... the thinner discs made it easier and more efficient to funnel multiple halyards through the fitting.... My Catalina 27 is a case in point. The groove diameter of the masthead sheaves is a smidge over 1/4 inch. I tried using a 1/4 sta set x .....but it was too small for clutches, not comfortable in hand..... and I HATE sta set X..... I can offer you a rant on that stuff, but I would be repeating myself and annoying the old timers here.

Anyway... the solution was to build "tapered" halyards.... where you put a cover on a dyneema core.. (or strip the cover from dyneema cored double braid, such as Samson Warpspeed.
For my boat I used 80 feet of 3/16 amsteel (stronger than wire, btw) as the core. Then I purchase 40 feet of 5/16 Samson LS... and used the it's Dacron core as a messenger to fish the amsteel into place. ON the Samson website, you will find the two very easy splices you need to finish the project, A
"tuck" or "bury" splice, where you bury the cover into the core to create the "taper".... and... a type II eyesplice for high tech single braid. I spliced the eye into the end of the dyneema while sitting on the fore deck after running the new halyard.. I recommend splicing a "luggage tag" eye .... it's just a large loop that allows you to easily bend your shackle on or off.

If you prefer a larger diameter line, the cover is 2/16 larger than the core. So a 3/8 inch cover would use a 1/4 core.... I wouldn't go larger than that...

Whatever you decide, check the size of your sheaves before you buy any line...if you find the need to replace with larger grooved sheaves... make sure they will fit the masthead casting. Good Luck.

 

[centerline]

7/16 seems huge for a 33 foot boat. When, many years ago, we changed out all of the original wire-to-rope halyards we used 5/16 T900 very low stretch line. Working fine after over a decade and they all hold in our old clutches and the ST cabin top winches.
They also run freely thru the sheaves at the mast head, whereas a trial fit with 3/8 showed some noticeable friction up there.

Les is right about checking the old sheaves for roughness. We pulled all of ours out and gently turned/smoothed them on a lathe, so that the spendy new line would not be abraided.

I have to agree the 7/16 is too big.... if not immediately, it will soon begin to rub the cheeks of the sheaves, probably to the degree that it will make sailing the boat a real PITA, and dropping the sails a dangerous task.
3/8" may work well, but that depends on the sheave width and clutches.... just because the boat is over 25ft doesnt mean it requires larger control lines.... and excepting for custom rigs, any boat using larger than 3/8 lines will probably be in the 42+ft range...
its possible that going from cable to rope, you may have to change the sheaves, which can easily be done if necessary. but changing the width of the cheeks to accept a larger line is a more difficult matter...
bigger and beefier control lines does not make the boat any bigger or stronger...just harder to handle!

 

[dlochner]

7/16s line may be a little large, but is is only 1/16" larger than ⅜". The larger line may have a better hand and easier to handle.

Masthead sheaves on older boats are always an issue. Back in the day the standard was an aluminum sheave running on an aluminum bearing on a SS bolt. Sheave often froze up or the bearing and SS bolt would get a flat spot. Inspecting the sheaves and making sure they run smoothly is a worthwhile investigation, however, it may mean dropping the mast.

On older boats with a wire/rope halyard, the sheaves often had a primary groove that was suitable for the rope portion and a smaller groove for the wire portion. So long as the sheave is clean with no significant burrs or corrosion that could abrade the line, the sheave should handle line as large as the line that was on the wire/rope halyard.

A couple of years ago I replaced my 7/16" halyard with ⅜" VPC, wish I had sprung for the next larger size. The small diameter is rough on the hands.

 

[Ron20324]

... I replaced my 7/16" halyard with ⅜" VPC, wish I had sprung for the next larger size....

Rope in millimeter size can fall in between 3/8 and 7/16.