sheets rubbing rail

[nauticalrich]

I've been sailing for years and for some reason I am now asking this question.

The jib sheets rub against the top of the rail lines. Is this normal?

[zz4gta]

What's a rail line?

[SVCarolena]

I think he meant lifelines. If so, our jib sheets rub the top lifeline when sailing down wind, but not on other points of sail. It has never seemed to bother the sheet or the lifeline - but of course we are not cruising for days on end. If yours rub on all points of sail, you may want to reroute the sheets under the liefelines.

[Ogrenaut]

I don't like it when my sheets rub against anything. Do you have single life lines or double? Where are your blocks located? You may want to re-post your question in the O'day community.

[Boasun]

If you have two lines there going through the stanchons, the top one is the life line and the lower one is the house line.
If you have three lines then the lowest would be called; the Foot Rope.
Now if the jib sheet is hard against any of those lines then you will have chafe. Which will slowly rub through your jib sheet.
Now if it is only resting lightly against each other you will only have a small amount of chafe that will take a couple of seasons of sailing for it to show deterioration of the sheets.

[Jeff_H]

If you have inboard sheet leads, then there really isn't a good way to keep the jib sheets or the sail itself from hitting the lifelines on some range of points of sail. If you are going to be on a course for a long time, then it is no big deal to run a short sheet outboard of the lifelines to minimize chafe when reaching. For coastal work, the sheet rarely sits against the lifelines in one specific spot on the sheet long enough for significant chafe to occur.

Jeff

[MIKEMCKEE]

I had the same problem on my Morgan 27, I was able to attach a short length of cable to the jib sheet where it attaches to the bow, this raised my jib a few inches and kept it from rubbing on the life lines. I was only able to do this because I had a little bit of space between the top of my jib and the sleve at the top of the mast. I know this doesn't sound like the most correct thing to do but it worked for me.

Good Luck,

Mike

[wwilson]

Originally Posted by nauticalrich

The jib sheets rub against the top of the rail lines. Is this normal?

nauticalrich,
Downwind, our sheets rub a portion of the lifeline. You can minimize chafe by installing a section of split PVC shroud protector over that short length of lifeline. It is easily removed to inspect the s/s wire for corrosion or developing "meat-hooks".

Wayne

[nauticalrich]

Thanks for all the replies.

And yes it is life lines. Getting old and couldn't think of it at that time.