Rope choice for main outhaul and cunningham

[MarkSF]

I'd like to replace the old main outhaul which has gone as hard and brittle as rock!

I think a very low stretch rope would be advantageous? Is there a reasonably priced one without going for dyneema? It's only 12ft long so I guess dyneema would be affordable, just sounds over the top.

Thanks!

[bwindrope]

Can of worms here. If it's only 12 feet you have a smallish boat so weight may or may not be a big consideration. I've had great luck with Samson LS or XLS. They are standard polyester lines that don't get racers too excited but are cheap and very dependable/easy to work with. Can be used for all running rigging on a cruising boat. Your bifurcation would seem to be whether weight and stretch are your biggest concerns, or whether 90% the performance and 30% the price is good enough.

Endless online opinions and resources on this. Working with lines is one of my favorite things about being a sailor. I look for any opportunity to splice and rig new lines!

[MarkSF]

Originally Posted by bwindrope

Can of worms here. If it's only 12 feet you have a smallish boat so weight may or may not be a big consideration. I've had great luck with Samson LS or XLS. They are standard polyester lines that don't get racers too excited but are cheap and very dependable/easy to work with. Can be used for all running rigging on a cruising boat. Your bifurcation would seem to be whether weight and stretch are your biggest concerns, or whether 90% the performance and 30% the price is good enough.

Endless online opinions and resources on this. Working with lines is one of my favorite things about being a sailor. I look for any opportunity to splice and rig new lines!

It is a Bristol 31.1. That outhaul only goes from the clew to 2/3 along the boom so it's not very long. Maybe 15ft at the most. I think it's XLS I just bought for the main sheet and it seems fine.

I sail in SF bay so it's all about strong winds and I'd like that line to not stretch, in turn keeping the draft forward, in the gusts.

[Hudsonian]

I'd check inside your boom. I have a four to one purchase in the boom of my 30 foot sloop.

[MarkSF]

Only 2 to one on mine, and that's done between the clew and the boom end, so no more than an extra couple of feet there.

[JimsCAL]

With that short run, your aren't going to get much stretch. I'd just go with a good quality double braid.

[PalmettoSailor]

How about Phd from Yale? I went with Salsa line for my out haul which is another line you might consider.

The outhaul is definitely an application for a low stretch line, especially for cruisers that wont be tweaking it all the time.