Tom, With regards to the halyards on Invictus, if your current halyards are wire to rope, switching over to a full rope halyard should include a thorough inspection of all masthead and exit sheaves for both compatibility and wear. Rope sheaves will have a radiused groove in the sheave while a sheave designed to support a wire halyard will have more of a V-shaped or Y-shaped profile. Wire halyards will often cause wear and sharp edges to form in the sheaves which can prematurely chafe and tear up a brand new rope halyard in a matter of weeks or months. Plus, the right sheaves will be properly shaped to evenly support the tension on the halyard and minimize wear and friction. It is best to upgrade the sheaves to a properly radiused rope sheave if you plan to get rid of the wire.. While there is a cost involved in doing so, wire to rope halyard tend to be expensive to make or buy and require a special skill set that isnt found with every rigging shop. On top of that, you will find the rope/wire halyards to be much heavier than 100% rope. And while wire has very little stretch, it also creates the dreaded meathooks when chafed, which will translate to your crew getting a very painful gash in their hands if it goes unnoticed.
Hopefully, your boat has already transitioned to all-rope halyards and none of this will matter, but it is still a good idea to check the sheaves for wear in general. Also keep in mind that when your boat was new, the high modulus ropes available now werent around, so often the rope sizes specified in owners manuals would be oversized using todays technology. Using a 3/8 halyard on a 30 boat is pretty standard stuff, but Ive seen folks use ½-5/8 jib sheets on 30 boats which has me wondering why use such a large rope for something that doesnt require as much tensile strength. I get it that if you apply what I would call the Sunfish theory (think having a main sheet with no jam cleat), a larger diameter rope might be easier on the hands. But our boats have winches, rope clutches, jam cleats and 6:1 mainsheet purchases, so having a big heavy rope as a control line, just means you will have a bigger snarled up mess on the cockpit floor. Especially if you sail in light conditions or race with a big genoa, big diameter jib sheets are a liability rather than an asset. We have enough folks in here that do Wednesday night racing on the 30 mk1, that rope size info using newer ropes should be easy to get. Chuck Gilchrest S/V Half Magic 1983 Landfall 35 Padanaram, MA From: CnC-List [mailto:cnc-list-boun...@cnc-list.com] On Behalf Of T power via CnC-List Sent: Thursday, January 11, 2018 6:30 AM To: cnc-list@cnc-list.com Cc: T power <sv_invic...@outlook.com> Subject: Stus-List New lines and hayalards Hello everyone, I'm thinking of replacing all of the sheets and halyards on Invictus, hoping for some insight. Dennis of Touche posted a note about color designation that I thought was interesting but I forgot to copy it. Looking for recommendations of size type and color of lines and halyards for a cruising sailboat that may enter a fun club race once in a while. Thanks for any help, Cheers. Tom Power Invictus C&C 30 MK1 Fredericton, NB
_______________________________________________ Thanks everyone for supporting this list with your contributions. Each and every one is greatly appreciated. If you want to support the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray
