Wire halyards. Is this normal?

[Doodles]

We have a new boat (to us) and there is a wire/rope halyard for the main. The line is lead back to a winch at the cockpit. When we hoist the main to the top I end up with the wire portion back on the winch. Is this normal and o.k. I had one boat before with the same setup but there was always rope on the winch when hoisted, never got to the wire portion.

[RandyonR3]

wire was an early way to keep your halyards from strech, and no, its not normal to have the wire around the winch.. check to see if your line lead aft is going through ALL the blocks correctly.
If it were Me, I'd pull the old halyards out and replace with new line.. The new lines avalable have as little strech as the cable, and are much easier on the hands..
Even the sheeves are replaceable to accept lines............

[sailingfool]

The wire SHOULD be turned around the winch, someone probably moves th ehalyard winch on your old boat. Not a good situation to have the wire-to-rope splice under continuous strain. All rope is better all around.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by sailingfool

The wire SHOULD be turned around the winch, someone probably moves th ehalyard winch on your old boat. Not a good situation to have the wire-to-rope splice under continuous strain. All rope is better all around.

In order to cleat the line off then, do you just continue wraps of the wire until you have rope to lead to a cleat, as opposed to just having three or four wraps before going to the cleat? I'm assuming you can't cleat the wire!

[Faster]

Wire is pretty harsh on winches, esp aluminum drums.. in our experience it's normal to have the rope section on the winch for that reason. The splice ought to be strong enough. The old (dangerous) reel winches were designed for wire, but not too many are seen nowadays.

Going to all line these days simplifies things as long as the masthead sheaves are appropriate.

Doodles, if you have enough halyard tail (rope) then just cut a few feet of wire off and reswage your shackle.. cut off enough to move the wire back off the winch.

[sasfish]

As others have said this is an old style of redusing strech. Get some sectra and replace the shim ( If needed) and you'll be right. The plus to all line is no fish hooks.

[sailingdog]

The new high-tech lines, like the Spectra or Dyneema based lines have about as much stretch as wire and are much lighter. In many cases going to an all line halyard will save you money in the long run, as you can end-for-end the halyard, which you can't do with a wire halyard. You do have to inspect the masthead sheave and exit slot for any damage and to make sure the sheaves are compatible with all rope halyards. Also, no meat hooks on all line halyards.

Originally Posted by sasfish

As others have said this is an old style of redusing strech. Get some sectra and replace the shim ( If needed) and you'll be right. The plus to all line is no fish hooks.

[Omatako]

Yes, you probably could use Spectra or Dyneema for halyards but the old question: "Why would you want to?"

Do you have a carbon fibre mast? Or a kevlar hull? Or kevlar-reinforced Mylar sails? Is your sail trim that important on your particular boat or it's application that you want to use cutting edge technology just to hold a sail up? A vessel that has wire going around the winches (the OP's) is not going to be used in the World Match Racing Championship.

Time to get real.

Use ordinary racing braid for your halyards and save yourself a bucket-full of money. I know because I do. And only a rigger/sailmaker from Oracle BMW or Team New Zealand will notice the difference in your sail set. Boat ownership is expensive enough as it is without searching for ways to make it more so.