Help Temporarily Thickening a main halyard

[seaspray24]

The 5/16" main halyard I had installed keeps slipping in the clutch of my J22. What can I wrap around it temporarily that will get me through 2-3 days of sailing until I can replace with a 7/16" halyard? Rigging tape? Electrical tape? Duct tape? Pros and cons would be welcome.
Thanks,
seaspray24

[Sailormann]

Is the clutch getting old ? If so, try pressing down on the thingy under the handle that actually contacts the line and then pressing the handle down on top of it.

[bheintz]

If the clutch is getting old. perhaps you can swap it out with a different one that requires less load, eg. Spin. Halyard for Main Halyard. (although for a J22 I doubt you have that many clutches on deck.)


If it is a old halyard you can take a section of 7/16" cover (long enough to for the range of halyard settings) and slide it over the existing 5/16" halyard. Then "lock stitch" the new cover section so it doesn't slip and taper the ends down so they will go in and out of the clutch.

It it is a "new halyard" undersized and you know how to splice you are in luck. Basically all you need to do is a "bulking splice" where you add a section of core inside the existing core. This works well in small diameter halyards in older sheet stoppers.

[sailingdog]

If you have any 3/8" line around, I would pull the core out of a section of 3/8" line and then put the outer braid over the main halyard over a section, say 2' long, and then whip the ends and stitch through the cover and rope.

This will act to thicken the diameter of the line in the area where the halyard is probably worn from use in the clutch.

Originally Posted by seaspray24

The 5/16" main halyard I had installed keeps slipping in the clutch of my J22. What can I wrap around it temporarily that will get me through 2-3 days of sailing until I can replace with a 7/16" halyard? Rigging tape? Electrical tape? Duct tape? Pros and cons would be welcome.
Thanks,
seaspray24

[JimsCAL]

Are you sure about using 7/16" for the halyards on a J22? Sounds way oversized, even for ordinary yacht braid. If you are going to this size just because the clutch won't hold, change the clutch.