Wire/Rope Halyard question

[bandit1]

My spin halyard came out the top of the mast so now that it has inconveniently come out I was considering changing it. It is half rope and half wire. Why was it made that way? Is this a good set up to have or am I better off with all rope? any opinions?
Thanks

[Stillraining]

For a Spin IMHO all rope would be way better.

[chef2sail]

All rope....dyneema.....but depending on thickness you may have to replace masthead sheeve

Dave

[IslanderGuy]

I believe rope/wire halyards where popular in the past due to the high stretch rate of ropes from times past. By using half wire, you could reduce the overall stretch by half, but still be able to handle the rope end which is easier then handling wire.

More recent rope types have a lot less stretch, so usually rope/wire is not needed anymore. Just after the bought our current boat, we had all the rigging replaced. It had rope/wire halyards, and the riggers strongly recommended we change them. We had to replace the sheaves at the mast head, and due to the size of the mast head we had to have custom sheaves made and use a slightly smaller diameter, high tech high strength rope. Removing the cost of having them due the rope to wire splices pretty much covered the cost of the conversion as no one wants to do those splices anymore if they do not have to. (At least they didn't).

I would recommend changing to all rope if possible. If your spinnaker halyard runs through a block on the mast like mine, rather then through the masthead sheaves, this should not be to difficult.

[bruceyp]

What about a main halyard or Jib halyard? I too have wire/rope and was thinking of replacing them this winter. Can I go all rope? Does the mast need to come down to check the sheaves?
BP

[JomsViking]

Originally Posted by bruceyp

What about a main halyard or Jib halyard? I too have wire/rope and was thinking of replacing them this winter. Can I go all rope? Does the mast need to come down to check the sheaves?
BP

Yes - All rope is better - Dyneema and Spectra have less stretch than wire, and you can get pre-stretched Polyester that is good enough.
It's easier with the mast down, but a bosuns chair will get you there too. Please ensure that the sheaves are totally smooth inside, or they will ruin your new halyards..

[JomsViking]

Originally Posted by IslanderGuy

I believe rope/wire halyards where popular in the past due to the high stretch rate of ropes from times past. By using half wire, you could reduce the overall stretch by half, but still be able to handle the rope end which is easier then handling wire.

Even better - you winched almost all of the rope down when raising the sail, so that you basically had all wire..

[ccriders]

Originally Posted by bruceyp

What about a main halyard or Jib halyard? I too have wire/rope and was thinking of replacing them this winter. Can I go all rope? Does the mast need to come down to check the sheaves?
BP

I converted wire/rope to all rope stayset x for main and jib. I do not like the staset x for the main as it is too stiff and does not run out smoothly. Inevitably a loop will kink as I'm lowering the main. Plus, after sailing for half an hour or so I have to go and reset the main due to stretch in the halyard/luff. For the jib, I have since installed a CD roller which has an internal wire halyard, which eliminates unecessary fiddling around. If doing over I would either go back to wire/rope or find a more suitable no stretch rope, one that was more supple and would run out without kinking and would coil up more easily.
John

[tommays]

On the 35' we have T900 and while its about as LOW stretch as it gets i still feel the big advantage is NO fishhooks from the wire

[olson34]

Originally Posted by tommays

On the 35' we have T900 and while its about as LOW stretch as it gets i still feel the big advantage is NO fishhooks from the wire

We replaced all four halyards with 5/16" T-900 about a decade ago. Better than wire and reduces weight aloft quite a bit also.

L