Amsteel Solent - Thoughts Hanking the sail

[rgleason]

I have an amsteel solent stay and grommets just behind my RF jibs wire luff.

I have small wichard clips with about 8" of strap with a loop to act as hanks.
The problem is these are too long and the solent stay is about 4" away from the leading edge of the luff.

I would like to develop a hank replacement solution that is failsafe, quicker and easier and also ties the leading edge of the jib closer to the solent stay.

At first I thought that making (24) Better soft shackles would possibly be a good solution using (24) 1/4" Amsteel 12 strand x 44" (24 x 44"=1,056"=88' x $2/ft= $176) which is pretty expensive

So then I thought why not make the rope shackles out of New England Ropes Regatta Single Braid which is also 12 strand 1/4" x 88' x $0.67/ft = $59 ! I could possibly do this and I wonder if it would work just as well?

A hank does not have extreme loads so dyneema is not needed for that. The only problem might be stretch, but with the short lengths doubled up it might only be an 1/8" or so.

Then I started thinking about the fiddly aspects of being on deck forward in wind and waves, holding onto 24 loose rope shackles and trying to hook them onto the dyneema solent stay.

..Of course, it makes a lot more sense to pre setup the solent sail all hanked onto the solent stay, keeping it in the bag tied to the base of the mast, ready deploy. Still the fiddly part bothers me.

OR use a dogbone instead of a know similar to this Antal (This is a minor change)

OR perhaps tie each rope shackle to a light line that runs from the head of the sail to the tack

OR perhaps tie each rope shackle to the grommet location on the sail.

OR perhaps just use a 40'x 1/4" double braid line tied to the head of the sail and make 1/2 hitches through each grommet (including the solent stay) all the way down to the tack, then tie the line tightly to the tack.

Has anyone done this?

Would the 1/4" double braid hank line stretch too much?

Would the 1/4" double braid hank line stretch unevenly throughout the luff?

Would it be better to use 40' of 1/4" amsteel to reduce stretch, or perhaps heavier double braid?

How practical would it be to try to tighten the double braid hank line (in order to bring the solent line closer to the jib luff, and even it out) after the jib is hoisted, in howling weather?


Any savy thoughts, experience or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

[rgleason]

I suppose I could secure regular hanks to the grommets, but then it might interfere with the Roller Furler operation. Maybe there is a hank that could be secured such that doesn't interfere?

[seandepagnier]

You might simplify your question. There is no problem using bronze piston hanks on dyneema stay provided the hanks are smooth and not worn from use on a wire stay. Bronze hanks are faster t put on and remove than soft shackles.