Standing Rigging: Spectra vs. Vectran

[Garth]

Hi Everybody,

I'm new to this forum, so I thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Garth Jones - I grew up sailing in Kansas (it CAN be done!) and now I'm living in Pittsburgh and building my first boat. It's a Ness Yawl (Iain Oughtred design) named Goldberry, and she's well along. If you would like to see what I'm up to, the web site is: http://www.slaughterhousegallery.com...awl/NYHome.htm

I had always planned on using wire rope for standing rigging because that was what I knew. However, a few months ago, I happened to meet Brion (hi Brion!) and he suggested vectran. However, from what I've read, vectran loses much of its strength if bent at any kind of sharp angle. The eyes at the masthead will have a bend in them, so I'm a bit concerned. Again, from what I've read, spectra is much stronger than wire, stretches about the same as wire (1.4% under 30% load, I think), and doesn't suffer so much from bends. The rig on my boat is light and the stays do not really need to be pretensioned, so the loads should not be very high. The plans call for 1/8" wire - could 1/4" spectra work just as well or should I stick to vectran? Any advice or thoughts would be very welcome.

Thanks in advance,
Garth

PS I am a novice rigger (obviously!) and I don't quite have one boat under my belt, but I've been building furniture professionally for some years now, so if anybody has any woodworking questions, I'll happily trade info.