Three-Strand Line

[barnakiel]

Great choice for a boat that will sit at the dock!

Is your boat THAT classic (I mean like a tall ship or something?)

The only place we use 3-strand here is for mooring lines.

I think 3-strand is as good as any other rope, but I hate handling it - hence my negative bias.

b.

[Simes]

Hi Barnakiel,

Yeh the boat is that classic, no it does not sit at the dock.
She has 10 Halyards, 5 Down hauls, two topping lifts, all of the halyards are multi-part and the only winches are 4 ancient Lewmars in the cockpit for the Jib and Flying jib. 1890 (ish) gaff Stay Sl' Schooner.

Use the rope that makes sense for your vessel. We have lots of Splices and whippings, the gaff rig is not under the stress and tension of a Bermudan rig so the effects of stretch are also lessened. After a short while you get used to the handling qualities and then your appreciation of the material grows.


She is sailed by my Wife and I with the occasional assistance of the ships dog.

Simes

[barnakiel]

OK.

I think you will be very happy with any quality 3-strand polyester ropes then.

BTW I have seen at least once 3-strand polyester ropes that were made in goldish colour - looking very, very classic.

BTW II You can also buy cotton-look polyester cloth to make you dacron sails that look like cotton sails. Again, very classic.

Cheers,
b.

[pembquist]

It is an old thread but I have one 3 strand halyard that came with the boat,(Cape Dory 28,) and one low stretch parallel core better than Stayset halyard I bought because I thought I was improving the boat. Frankly I like the feel of the old 3 strand better. It is less kink prone and doesn't slip on the winch the way the other line does. It is pretty worn out out and I have to replace it and I am not sure what I am going to do.

[barnakiel]

I used heaps of three strand rope on my past boats and never had any problem doing this or that. Just try to match the material with the purpose of the specific line.


You probably know there is very fine classic coloured polyester three-strand available - coloured 'gold' to match classic sails (and sails are also available in classic gold dacron!) and the specific aesthetics of some classic boats.


For one, I actually love mixing classic with hi-tech and see no bad in using a Spectra or PBO material on a classic hull. Just the question of how you run your boat and what pleases your heart.


BTW, I bought Marlow sheets (cotton-like braided polyester - main and genoa sheets) for our boat before last crossing and the material was crap. I would not buy this brand/style again. I would search the web and try out an available alternative.



Cheers,
b.

[cal40john]

Within reason you can choose most anything. Racers don't like halyards to stretch, changing the shape of the sail. I chose the XLS as suggested for cruisers in the Samson guide link below because it is cheap and I like the hand much better than many of the modern lines. Since I used to race and I don't like my sails poorly shaped, after 10 minutes or so when the line has stretched I re-tension it.

http://www.samsonrope.com/Documents/..._Guide_WEB.pdf

I can't find the stretch data on New England 3 strand, but typically 3 strand stretches a little more than double braid. Also chances are on a smaller boat the size line you use is determined by what is big enough to easily handle/hold. So load on the line is usually one the lower end of working load numbers and therefore stretches less, making it less important what you choose.

An example of what isn't reasonable, a friend bought a boat and couldn't figure out why rope for marine use was so expensive. He bought hardware store rope for a fraction of the cost. Breaking strength was around 200 lbs, vs around 3000-4000 lbs for similar diameter marine. It was nylon, it was impressive how much it stretched raising sails, and it rotted in the sun in about a year, and he lost his internal halyards inside the mast.

[cburger]

Three strand just looks right on a Cape Dory. Diameter of the line is typically determined buy the sheaves size of your pulleys and blocks. As mentioned stretch not really an issue is all you have to do is harden up a little bit on the line to make up for any of this issue. Another couple of positives, is the three strand much easier to splice and less costly the most double braids.