Line Load Litigation

[Ian McColgin]

Ahoy Jim,

AB is short for able bodied seaman, the step up from wiper. (Don't ask, but that was my first z card.)

Shock loading on halyards is most rare but a gaff peak halyard can get quite a strain during a gybe. When one local fleet finally moved from manila to dacron, they had the halyards set by feel like they had with the manila. In a good wind the loads up there are impressive and you'd see bending gaffs commonly, sometimes breaking just under sail. Setting the peak that hard with manila worked well enough since in a gybe the line would gather back some of the stretch and let it out the other side. Dacron was just enough less stretchy that people had to learn to trim the peak halyard a little less belligerantly.

Good sailors can spot folk with nylon sheets a mile off and it's painful. You really will have so much more fun with your boat if you do her the honor of letting her sail right. A gybe is the only time the shock on the sheet matters much and the risks are way over-rated compared to everything else that can go wrong. For example, when the wind gets on the other side of the sail, the boom naturally lifts. Absent a heavy boom or a vang, it can easily lift high enough to foul the backstay on the way across. No there's some shock loading but it's not on the sheet.

Many contemporary sloops have the main ending with a cam cleat mounted on the exit tackle, which is often on a track. The cam cleat needs to be angled such that when you're hauling in the sail at the start of your gybe you're not hauling through the cleat. Once the sail's coming across you want it running freely. With a little practice and maybe some gloves if you don't harden your hands with rowing or rope climbing or something, you should be able to haul in fast and when the sail crosses do NOT hold the sheet to then let out. Rather, have your palms open so the sheet can run and you grip it only when it's moving. That way the only shock is overcoming the sheet tackle's initial inertial resistance.

There are various boom tamers on the market but it's worth just learning how to handle and surge the line.

It's also useful to remember the the shock is rarely that big a deal. The boat will roll with it and modern dacron in the sheets and sails are incredibly strong.

Line size - you don't want it too big for the boat but most main sheets are fantasticly stronger than the job requires since the hand grip comfort is paramount. I find line smaller that 1/2" annoying. For a genny sheet, 5/8" is hardly too small.

G'luck

[lavery]

Ian,
Yes, the mainsheet on my S2 sloop was set up as you described: "cam cleat mounted on the exit tackle, which is ... on a track." The cleat was on an angle clear of the sheet until I purposely locked it in. It worked very well.

Based on your comments I will let go any concerns about halyard shock load.

Also, your comments about stretchy mainsheets are very well taken. In the direction in which I am moving I see the opportunity to spend more time on the boat refining techniques. As a result of our conversation I am leaning now toward a more conventional single braid polyester mainsheet (such as New England Regatta).

Thank you also for your reference to line diameter comfort in hand, which for you is at least 1/2" - very helpful.

Thanks and good sailing,

Jim

[benz]

Hi,

I use 7/16 Regatta braid for most of my lines (I bought a spool for the bulk discount), and find it beautiful on the hands. My main is 300 sq feet, and nothing broke loose in our one very violent accidental gybe. Don't be intimidated by the splicing of it--it's actually easier to splice than double-braid, and knots in it are easier to untie after being tensioned than knots in sta-set. There is no circumstance under which I would consider Sta-set X for anything. The crossed fabric that makes it unstretchy also makes it stiff and very hard to splice--if unstretchy halyards are REALLY necessary (which they aren't for a cruiser), use HM.

[allene]

Remember, there are as many opinions as sailors. I just switched from a wire halyard (on a wire winch) to HM. I posted a couple of articles about it here http://l-36.com/articles.php?menu=2 but you probably do not have the constraints of having to have skinny line due to my narrow sheave. But you might find the reading interesting.

And remember as far as shock loads go, my boat is wood. Yours will be stronger.

I tried Regatta braid for my mainsheet and returned it. The stuff snagged on everything. I put teflon tape (called million dollar tape because it is $100 a roll) on absolutely everything near and it still snagged. Some people like it but everyone I know who has tried it abandoned it because of the snagging. I am about to try some Tenex for some jib sheets. It is a single braid like Regatta braid but not so prone to snagging. It has more of the feel of regualr XLS but is a 12 strand so has some of the properties of that. I have not tried it however. I am waiting for some samples of the 7/16 and 1/2 to decide between them. It is also cheap and very strong. It is, however, not marketed to marine at this time.

My recommendation to you on your boat would be to buy a 600 ft roll of 7/16 XLS or Sta-Set and use it for everything. That would be a very tried and true approach.

Allen

[Stumble]

Allene,

I know this thread is old, but your sugestion to buy a roll and use it for everything I just couldn't let pass.

Even assuming that every line needed to be so heavy (which isn't true on a S2), there is a HUGE advantage in color coting the lines on the boat. When you have crew with you of course it heps to be able to say "release the blue halyard" but even when by yourself, trying to quickly visually identify if a line is tangled, or to untangle it from other lines makes life a lot easier. I learned this the hardway when an owner I race with got a great deal on a spool of vectran. One day of racing with the new monocrome line system, and we swapped out almost every line on the boat for new.


lavery,

I would highly recommend hiring a local racer to come out with you for an afternoon and go through the lines with you. Even knowing you have no intention of racing, a 21 year old serious racer can be hired for between 2 and 3 beers an hour almost anywhere in the US, and will be able to walk you through every line you have and what to replace it with.

There are a number of issues that need to be considered before just jumping in, and while some of them really are not important for a cruiser/day-sailor it is a good idea to understand why the racers do what we do.

For instance, one of the problems with a stretchy mainsheet is that as the wind builds the loads increase. And since stretch is a function of load, it means that as the wind builds the sheet will stretch, this has the same effect as you intentionally easing the mainsheet just a little. Now it might seem this would be a good idea in a blow, but what is really happening is that it won't stretch enough to spill the air from the sails, but it will ease enough to open the leetch, reduce down force on the boom, and increase the amount of power the sail is generating, exacally when you don't want it to.

That being said, a traveller line typically has perhaps 10% the load on it that the sheet has. So even though my lines are exacally the same diamater, the traveller line is chasen without regard for strength, but instead for something that won't absorbe water, and is less prone to kinking than other lines (Oh its another color too).

By understanding what you need out of each line you can choose the best tool for each job, instead of just trying to get by. It might cost you a tad more, or you might decide it isn't worth it for the marginal gains, but at least it will then be an informed decision.

[Ian McColgin]

Just had to gang in on one of my pet peeves - I loath colour coded lines. It is every bit as easy to learn by position and every line should have it's place, so the colour coding only helps a little.

I have a friend who festooned his Wianno Sr with all sorts of neon horrors - "Pull the fuscia rope" instead of "Trim the lift."

"Not the pink line, dummy. The faded red line . . . "

He even went for red and green spinnaker sheets and put the red on the starboard side. You see what I mean.

With new crew, it's easy. Give a person one job. Intelligent breaking down and a few minutes of drill work so well that often a crew of people who have never been afloat make a better crew than a few jokers who think they know everything.

Rant over.