2 to 1 main halyard

[azuredragon]

I'm considering changing the main halyard on our Adams 45 from wire with synthetic tail to a 2 - 1 halyard of 10mm dyneema cored rope. I've convinced myself this will make hoisting the main easier but I don't know how this will affect lowering or reefing. I'd appreciate hearing other's experiences with making this change.

[RaymondR]

I did it a couple of years ago and other than the main being easier to haul up and more rope to stow when it is, nothing much different.

[SV Tom Crean]

Originally Posted by azuredragon

I'm considering changing the main halyard on our Adams 45 from wire with synthetic tail to a 2 - 1 halyard of 10mm dyneema cored rope. I've convinced myself this will make hoisting the main easier but I don't know how this will affect lowering or reefing. I'd appreciate hearing other's experiences with making this change.

Go for it. No difference in reefing or taking down the main and much easier getting it up. Only downside is the 2:1 means you have a lot more halyard (it’s a force/distance trade off) to haul but well worth it.

[catsketcher]

I did this a few years ago to assist my wife in hoisting the main by hand on out cat (the full battened main is quite heavy). It works well and reduces mast load as well by reducing compression. Wire halyards are nasty things and I would not like one on my boat.

I assume because you have an Adams you are in Australia. I like to buy a reel of spectra from these guys

https://www.sydneyropesupplies.com.a...-spectraspeed/

If you scout around you should be able to find someone who will buy half a reel with you. My brother and I did this for our boats. If you also do your other halyards you can buy two reels and chop up the reels and swap colours. I stay away from Whitworths as much as possible.

One last thing - because you have more rope at the mast, ensure you are coiling the heap of rope properly. I spent 45 years including working for years as a sailing instructor teaching people the wrong way to coil a rope. Now, using a method learnt when I went canyoning the long tail flops onto the deck and then runs out beautifully. I do it a little differently from this video but the idea is the same.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-TV9cnzI3E

Cheers

Phil

[BobFord]

I have a couple of items to add to the brew. with two part halyards-
-I assume this system due to heavy loads to be hauled, watch out for the rope's outer , bunching up and jamming blocks and locks. I had my halyard machine stitched ,full length , to prevent this.
-I coil halyard ,on deck , by using 'butterfly loops'. About 1.5 meters overall.
Cheers, Bob

[azuredragon]

Thanks for the replies. Makes the decision easy. I've never heard about stitching a double braid line to prevent the cover bunching. Hmmm.

One other concern I have is the strength of the block attached to the head of the main. It must take the full strain of the luff tension. The solution I am leaning toward is to use a Ronstan Ser 20 Bb Orbit Block Sgl Lash RF25109 and attach it with a soft shackle through the axle. My thinking is that the soft shackle will be stronger than the block so in the event of block failure the halyard remains attached to the sail. So my next concern is whether I can get the sail down if this block broke. If I can't get the sail down then I'd probably prefer to have to climb the mast again to re-rig the halyard.

Has anyone ever had a block failure in this situation?

[Tin Tin]

Your block should be tougher than the luff rope/head board attachment so something else will fail first. One issue with two to one is halyard twist, so a non swiveling block should be used. Keep sail track well lubricated as the two to one does drag and sail will not drop as fast as with a single. Some people attach a down haul line to the head, say 6mm dyneema and cleat at mast base, in case sail does not want to come down of its own accord. One further consideration is that because one end of the halyard is at the mast head, you do not know how secure it is for when being hoisted on a bosuns chair, so consider using topping lift or similar mast top halyard as alternative with your safety attached to the main halyard. My two bobs worth.

[azuredragon]

I like the downhaul suggestion. With a 2:1 halyard I'm going to have an extra mast length of halyard at deck level when the main is up. Is there any reason I couldn't use the tail end of the halyard as the downhaul?

[nuku34]

With respect, could I ask the op why he doesn't just use a single part halyard and self tailing winch at the mast?

Also, I suggest that once the main is fully hoisted, there isn't a lot of load on the halyard. Why? because the main is held to the mast track at many points by slugs or slides, and these create friction when the sail is not luffing.

Think about the extreme cases of halyard tension of a jib in the alloy extrusion of a furler compared to halyard tension on a spinnaker. Halyard tension on the jib is really minor while halyard tension on the kite is heaps. The halyard tension on a main is somewhere in the middle of those two extremes.

[BobFord]

Talking about blocks- I have had a few notable failures and view 'working strength ', with caution, I have replaced several blocks with the , shall I call them ,'fisherman's blocks'. These are the all stainless type with .alleged. very substantial working loads. So far so good. The blocks are not 'tested', officially, but they are crude and look like an overkill!!

[fxykty]

I’ve never heard of stitching a line to keep the cover from bunching - must be cheap line that’s not fit for purpose. Buy proper line, replace it before the cover changes through anywhere and you don’t have to worry about that.

You can convert a single part halyard to two part but you do need to have somewhere on your mast crane to attach the end of the halyard. Typically it’s a pin. It needs to be offset from the back of the mast.

Any block with sufficient rated strength (safe working load) can be used. The shackle pin goes through the head ring of the main sail. The halyard comes down from the top of the mast, goes around the block, then up to the halyard sheave and back down the mast.

The load on the halyard is halved. The load on the block is full. The load on the top pin is half.

A downhaul line is not anymore necessary on a two part halyard as for a single part. Sometimes there is a downhaul line for each reef point, but it can be really light as there’s not much load.

You could use a regular block like this https://www.ronstan.com.au/marine5/p...ProdNo=RF64108, or a specialist block like this https://support.seldenmast.com/en/pr...-1_blocks.html. If you use a block with a shackle make sure that you can lock the swivel so it doesn’t turn.

As others have pointed out, it is important to flake the falls so that you don’t introduce any twists. A butterfly flake is useful when you more halyard than is comfortable to hold in a hand. And remember that each time you take the halyard off of a winch you’ve introduced 4 twists (assuming four turns on the winch).

[RaymondR]

I coil on the sheet winch with an under and over technique which prevents putting twists in the line.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by Tin Tin

Snip>One further consideration is that because one end of the halyard is at the mast head, you do not know how secure it is for when being hoisted on a bosuns chair, so consider using topping lift or similar mast top halyard as alternative with your safety attached to the main halyard. My two bobs worth.

If it's a proper mast head for two part halyard (and OP's might not be) and a proper eyesplice at the end there, this should not be a concern. Hasn't been for me. But you do allude to a negative of the two part halyard in that if you need to replace the halyard, or turn it end for end, someone needs to go up the mast.

[ggray]

Originally Posted by RaymondR

I coil on the sheet winch with an under and over technique which prevents putting twists in the line.

If you are describing a figure eight coiling, that's how I do it, hooked on a winch. And since there is an extra long tail, I make real long loops, maybe 4 feet.

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by azuredragon

Thanks for the replies. Makes the decision easy. I've never heard about stitching a double braid line to prevent the cover bunching. Hmmm.

One other concern I have is the strength of the block attached to the head of the main. It must take the full strain of the luff tension. The solution I am leaning toward is to use a Ronstan Ser 20 Bb Orbit Block Sgl Lash RF25109 and attach it with a soft shackle through the axle. My thinking is that the soft shackle will be stronger than the block so in the event of block failure the halyard remains attached to the sail. So my next concern is whether I can get the sail down if this block broke. If I can't get the sail down then I'd probably prefer to have to climb the mast again to re-rig the halyard.
Has anyone ever had a block failure in this situation?

We use this: blocks-antal to hold our 800 ft2 mainsail up. They come in different sizes, and we're quite please with it. It replaces a "low friction" type of block we tried, but didn't like much.

It looks quite robust to me, and works well.

Cheers.
Paul.