Lines and sheets

[Jason K]

What is the best diameter line for sheets and for halyards?

Also - I'm thinking about going with New England Ropes' T-9000 line which has "Spectra/Technora core and braided polyester cove" for halyards and jib sheets. Any thoughts or preferences? This is a link

And - what are your favorites for mainsheets?

And finally - what about lengths? I can go to the boat and measure, but if anyone knows offhand, it would spare me a trip. Right know, I am replacing two halyards, 2 jib sheets, and the mainsheet.

Thanks all.

[Tim]

3/8 is fine for halyards; 7/16 is nice for jib sheets for ease of handling (literally: easy on the hands). 3/8 is adequate, strengthwise, but the larger line on the jib sheets makes a difference when tailing. Just be sure all your blocks are sized properly to accommodate larger lines, if you decide to do this.

In my opinion, you'd be wasting your money on the T-900, unless you're a serious racer (and owning a Triton eliminates that possibility, with apologies to those who actually race their Tritons). Also, T-900 is stiff and tougher on the hands, and therefore not the best choice for jibsheets unless the lack of stretch is a serious factor (again, which only applies for serious racers).

FWIW, the photo of the T-900 at the pyacht link is not accurate, I don't believe. I used T-900 for a mainsail halyard once, because I needed a very small diameter to replace an old wire halyard on a small sheave, and it was very different in appearance from the pyacht photo, which is representative of a totally different line. The photos and description in the West Marine catalog are more accurate in this instance.

I think regular old Sta-Set is a good all-around choice for all your lines. It works well, is reasonably priced, flexible and easy on the hands, and plenty strong. It does stretch a little, but you can always take up a little more.

Lengths: the jibsheets should each be 1.5X the length of the boat. I believe the mainsheet, with a 4:1 purchase, needs to be 80+ feet. Halyards are twice as long as the hoist for each sail, plus enough extra to allow leading to winches and cleats with a nice tail left over. If you run halyards aft, you have to add in that length as well.

[Jason K]

Thanks Tim - appreciate the input.

I will actually do a few Wednesday night races next year on the Triton, just for the heck of it, but I don't plan on race optimizing the boat. I guess I've spent to much time racing while this project's dragged on.

This is probably a dumb question, but I've got wire halyards on board now. What's the point of wire halyards? My lines don't run through the mast, so I don't think a small shive is a real issue - is there any reason not to get rid of the wires?

[Tim]

Wire halyards stretch less than all rope. In the past, line was nowhere near as high-tech as it is today, so wire was required on halyards since the stretch inherent in the older lines was so excessive. Older lines also lacked the strength of wire.

Today, even run of the mill line (such as Sta-Set) is so low stretch (~2.5%) as to negate the effect, at least on smallish boats. Strengthwise, the high tech lines of today meet and exceed the strength of wire. Larger boats sometimes still use wire, but more and more you see even the largest boats using one of the very high-tech Spectra lines for halyards. Certainly on anything under about 50', I think wire is an anachronism.

Wednesday night races definitely don't qualify for the "serious racer"criteria. Fun races are just that, and if your halyard happens to stretch 3/8" during the race, you won't even notice.

There's just no need for wire halyards on a 28-footer anymore. One thing you will have to check, however, is that the shape of the sheaves over which your halyards run is large enough to accommodate the size halyard you choose. Sheaves meant for wire often have a deep groove to contain the wire, and may not allow a line to properly seat. Other sheaves have the wire groove, but also a wider cove for the line; these work fine for all-line halyard.

The sheaves that came with my mast accommodated the switch to all line with no trouble. I think the main halyard sheave, which is inside the mast, would accept no larger than 3/8" line.

FWIW, it's pronounced "shiv", but spelled "sheave".

[catamount]

In addition to what Tim said about sheaves made for use with wire, you should also be aware that sheaves that have been used with wire may be so buggered up that you will want to replace the sheave before using textile lines, as otherwise you may just end up chafing through your textile line.

Regards,

Tim A.

[Rob]

I replaced my wire halyards last year. The sheaves were "grooved" for the wire halyards. This is not good for rope because under load the rope could get stuck in this groove. I was going to replace the sheave but rigging only gave me a good hint. They told me to fill the groove with "aluminum oxide". It was a putty and cost $10. Took me about 10 minutes to fill the grove in all 4 sheaves. Worked fine.

Rob

[The Good Goose]

I agree with tim about the stayset it is what I use for my halyards and I race casually and it warks fine for me. I replaced my wire main with it and have no problem.

I also replaced my shieve. the rigger told me I could fix my old one by holding a dowell wrapped in sandpaper in the groove while I spun the shieve in my drill press. put a bolt through the hole and attach it to your drill press. Mine was phenolic and chipped so I decided on a new one although I think I used it for awhile and it worked fine.

my spinnaker halyard is 5/16 and my jib is 3/8 I think my main is too. My sheets are 7/16 and of something softer then staset. I don't know what but I really like the gripability. I have to replace my main sheet too. so any suggestions on what material to use for that would be appreciated. My old one is frayed where it interacts with the cam cleats so it doesn't run too swell. What is the best choice for grippability along with good wear?

Any advice on a good brand of inexpensive swivel shackels for the jib and spinnaker halyards? The ones I've seen seem ridiculously expensive.


Good luck with the refit glad you were able to, and decided to, keep the boat.

Brock Richardson

[Todd Dunn]

I replaced the halyards on my Allied 36 a couple of years ago. I too was going from wire halyards to rope halyards. I went with 3/8" StaSet X for all the halyards. I chose StaSet X over regular StaSet for two reasons. First StaSetX is a bit stronger and less stretchy than StaSet in the same diameter. Although I don't race I do sail quite a bit in heavier air and halyard stretch is a bad thing when you are trying to keep your sails flat. Second, I find StaSetX to be much easier to splice than StaSet. I used 5/16" StaSetX for my mizzen halyard, which isn't that much smaller than your main.

My genoa and main sheets are 7/16" StaSet. I don't mind the stretch on sheets and find StaSet to have a better hand and to be less stiff than StaSetX. I went with 7/16" so the line would be easier on my hands since I don't have self-tailing winches.