Dueling experts

[JohnV]

In the widely respected Desirable and Undesirable Characteristics in Offshore Yachts, the authors say that a rope topping lift that passes through a sheave at the masthead isn't "seamanlike" for various reasons. They advocate a wire, fixed at the masthead, with a tackle at the bottom to control the boom height.
John Vigor, in How to Sail Around the World, who I suspect was a pretty "seamanlike" guy, recommends just the opposite.
My boat came with the former--a fixed, coated wire with a block at the end--and I'm debating whether to switch to rope in a spare masthead sheave instead.
Anybody got a coin to flip? Or a viewpoint they'd like to share? There always seem to be multiple "seamanlike" ways to rig for a given purpose. Is that the case here?
John V.

[Robbie.g]

If the boat is being setup for offshore cruising the i'd think it would be seamanlike to have a rope topping lift to use as a spare mainsail halyard, should the need arise.
regards

[Auspicious]

I agree with Robbie. You can never have too many halyards.

[Ian McColgin]

Seems to me that it's easy enough to have spare halyards so for me that's not a reason to prefer a lift that's to a pully at the truck. I really hate wire lifts as leach eaters. I also don't like the ability to change the boom's height limited as the block at the end of wire must be. Since there should be permanently installed reefing lines, having the lift line also running along the boom to a good control point near the mast is just more clutter and the all-too-common alternative of having it out at the end of the boom is a potential hazard of inaccessability.

The wire has the advantage of less windage aloft, achieved at to me unacceptable cost.

[JohnV]

Ian, you're right that accessiblity is a problem. So is standing under the boom while you uncleat the control line with one hand and hold the boom up with the other.
The coated wire doesn't seem to be chafing.
Maybe what I should do is try the spare halyard/topping lift combination. An advantage I can see is that it gives me a spare halyard but with only one additional line down the mast, since the other end goes out to the boom end. And another reason to add a boom gallows.
Thank you for your thoughts.

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
The biggest problem with using the spare main halyard as a topping lift is that, when you need to use it as a spare halyard (skyed or broken the primary; want to set the trys'l before lowering the mains'l), you no longer have a topping lift. In addition, you are working at a mechanical disadvantage, rather than the 2:1, 3:1, or more that you can get with a tackle at the end of the boom.
Take that tackle to a Spectra pendant, and you have a stronger, lighter, softer, corrosion-proof pendant, not that wire thing.
Take the hauling part inside the boom to a belay at the gooseneck, and it's easy to get to.
Make the pendant whatever length you want, to allow for as much boom topping as you are likely to need. If you need to take it higher, you still have that spare main halyard.
A rigid vang can be installed instead of the topping lift. And again,the spare halyard is backup most of the time, but available if you need it.
Finally, you can engineer lazyjacks so that they can function as last-ditch quarter-lifts. This support-in-depth can be quite attractive on boats with very large, heavy booms and no place for a rigid vang, like big catamarans, and monohulls with minimum boom height above deck or other issues.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss