Main Halyard for Oyster 55 Spectra or Not?

[Benz]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Wow, y’all are talking about rope brands that wouldn’t be my first choice… who is selling that to make it so popular?

I’ve simply been keeping it with Samson, probably because they invented the rope we all use. Am I right in assuming Samson is more expensive?

When it comes down to price, is it known which Dyneema fiber one uses? I think I know that Samson uses DSM and I guess there are many manufacturers now because I believe the patent expired. Are they all good?

Samson ropes are great, but they don't have a big presence in my corner of the world, where Marlow dominates. Samson also hasn't specialized into the racing market like Maffioli or Marlow: I don't think they offer technora or PBO covers, nor any SK99. Perhaps they do, but no one carries them around here.
All HMPE called "Dyneema" is made by DSM. Other HMPE fibers from other manufacturers will have different names: Styrotex, Nexsteel, Acera, Spectra, and counterfeit dyneema from China we call "Chineema". Dyneema is simply the biggest player, and has all the flavors, and is a known quality.

[botanybay]

Yeah, she is a sloop (cutter actually) with a pretty large main. I’ll look up the house and foot and upload.

[Hamish_ct]

My son, Jonathan is a rigger, nice to have in the family. He has been doing Dynema lines, to 1/2 in, the line in the mast and on the sheaves is not covered, he tapers the Dynema, so that the line has a much thinner diameter in and around the mast. Then tapers it into 1/2 in line for the winch and holding. More expensive, yes, worth it, definitely yes.

He is in Bridgeport and works for Black Rock Boat Works - Elevated Rigging if you want a quote.

[shimari]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

...

For your headsails, if they are on furlers, I recommend you consider the Antal halyard systems: Halyard systems
With these, your halyard can be Amsteel Blue and is only half the length, enormously reducing cost and rope bundles at the mast.

Second on the Antal halyard system. I love them.

[rmy]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Yes it costs more. So did your sail choice. You should absolutely get non-stretch halyards for your membrane sails. Stick to 12mm or go down to 7/16” if available. Your existing halyards are likely Kevlar core - also non-stretch - but if the covers are worn then the core will have lost strength.

You should also consider non-stretch sheets.

Concur.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by botanybay

Well, the time has come to replace all of the running rigging on the boat. Most everything is fine with double braid as the winches and clutches are setup for it.

The question is the Main Halyard (and the Genoa and Staysail) if Sta-set X is sufficient or if Endurabraid (or something like it) is a good trade.

One limiting factor is that the maximum line size for the clutches is 1/2" / 12mm. I suspect the sheaves at the masthead are about the same.

Looking at Sta-Set X and Endurabraid, difference in price is about 2.5x for the Spectra/Dyneema core at the same size (I could go down in size but 1/2 or 7/16" works well in the cam clutches).

The line for these halyards now has a gold core, it appears to be loosely woven. I was very happy with the performance of these halyards. They are just very worn at this point (the cover is sun damaged, the clutches don't seem to have caused any trouble on the existing line).

The new main is a North 3dI Endurance which really points beautifully with much less heel that I had before :-)

Thanks

We have replaced both main & jib with North 3DI. Fabulous sails especially for big rigs. We were unable to manage hoist tension & horizontal wrinkles until ditching the old halyards for Dynema. High tech needs high tech.

In the very high end monster super yachts they must also account for temperature caused length variations: mast, shrouds, halyards, sails.

[sailingharry]

A consideration for halyards that are rarely used, like for like jibs. I made my own, maybe hard to get a rigger to do it. But I bought straight up dyneema halyards of the right size. Put a dyneema chafe cover on the last five feet at the shackle to provide UV coverage and chafe protection at the sheave. Then for about 10 to 15 ft, from just before it comes out of the mast when fully hoisted, through the clutch, around the winch, and into the deck storage locker I fattened it up. Put a small diameter line inside the dyneema, and a cover on the outside. This made it work well in the clutch and winch, and provided full coverage for UV when hoisted. When the sails are down, I attach a messenger to the halyard and hoist it back to the masthead, so it rarely sees UV. This arrangement saves considerably on expense (if you do your own work) and massively reduces the amount of line bulk when the sail is up. It does make hoisting the sail a bit more challenging -- but we do that once a year.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

A consideration for halyards that are rarely used, like for like jibs. I made my own, maybe hard to get a rigger to do it. But I bought straight up dyneema halyards of the right size. Put a dyneema chafe cover on the last five feet at the shackle to provide UV coverage and chafe protection at the sheave. Then for about 10 to 15 ft, from just before it comes out of the mast when fully hoisted, through the clutch, around the winch, and into the deck storage locker I fattened it up. Put a small diameter line inside the dyneema, and a cover on the outside. This made it work well in the clutch and winch, and provided full coverage for UV when hoisted. When the sails are down, I attach a messenger to the halyard and hoist it back to the masthead, so it rarely sees UV. This arrangement saves considerably on expense (if you do your own work) and massively reduces the amount of line bulk when the sail is up. It does make hoisting the sail a bit more challenging -- but we do that once a year.

Exactly. Check out that Antal halyard system, it is the next step up. It shortens your halyard by half, removes the rope bundle when the jib is on the furler, even eliminates the clutch.

[Eagle ITA]

Originally Posted by botanybay

Great information.

Looks like something with the SK78 core is probably the way to go.

Anything to worry about masthead sheave shape with these lines?

^^^ +1


Dyneema SK78 halyards has never let me down

[s/v Jedi]

About the shape of the sheave: there are sheaves for wire rope, when halyards were half wire rope and half polyester. To use those sheaves you need to strip the line so that you have the bare Dyneema core over the sheave while hoisting the sail, because it is the same diameter as the old wire rope.

Not all rope is suitable for that; the core needs to have a UV protection coating. I like the Samson Warpspeed for this because it has an Amsteel Blue core which has a very good track record for UV resistance.

I also do this the other way around: I have 6mm Amsteel Blue and add a 3/8” polyester cover for the part that engages the clutch and winch. It is hard to find this cover (Mine is from Yale Cordage that I don’t see offered anymore) but when you strip Warpspeed and save that cover, you can use it for another line and recoup the value