peak halyard

[SV Papillon]

I have a question on how to set up a gaff peak halyard. The way it was / is set up on the foresail is a double block with a becket leading to a block at the end of the gaff and another block about 3/4 to midway. Does this sound right? I'm guessing it was set up this way due to no halyard winches. I'm thinking about putting some winches on and wonder what sort of purchase there should be, or are they not nessesary. Sail is 400 sq ft

Thanks

Jake

[Ian McColgin]

4:1 advantage for a peak on a sail this size is generous but not that odd. Marmalade has 4:1 for 550 feet but she's Brewer's Chappaquiddick 25 cat boat - peaks up very high and above the mast so the last bit usually requires taking a turn on a small winch. Your schooner foresail probably peaks only to 45 degrees and the stress is not so great.

We call it 4:1 and it is - less friction - while you're pulling peak and throat together and the gaff is horizontal. Once you're peaking up, however, it's less since two parts of that pull are not at the end of the gaff.

Most gaff rigs of greater than modest size have a block positioned as yours is to spread the strain on the gaff. Even more spread can be achieved by a bridle for that block to run along the gaff on, but if you've not broken the gaff as is, clearly that's not needed.

I would not reduce the number of parts for two reasons. Firstly, if you rig such that it must go through a winch for all phases of raising the sail, then you're stuck doing the same for the throat halyard. Once you do that, investing in two probably self-tailing winches at great cost, you then cannot conveniently single-handedly get the sail up since you can't haul both peak and throat together.

Secondly, on an older gaff rig a little halyard stretch is a good thing. Not like nylon, of course! To give an example, the hotshot of one of our local gaff rigged classes blossomed out with one of those post-dacron superbraids. We race in some good air on Nantucket Sound and he snapped his gaff in his first Strong Breeze (Force 6, wind above 25 knots) gybe. The exotic rope was too inelastic and transmitted all the shock load into the gaff which on those boats in that sort of breeze is already subject to some bending strains that make thoughtful skippers ponder.

One more point is the choise between three strand or braided. These halyards are long enough that no matter what you use you really need to take the coil off and fake the line on deck before striking sail, unless you really like a gok-knot induced charlie foxtrot. Three strand both coils and fakes out more forgivingly than braids because it's structure can absorb a bit of twist without getting all in a twist.

For this rig, it's hard to find better than good old (now) three strand dacron.

G'luck

[SV Papillon]

Thanks Ian,

You answered the questions I had. The monster halyard tail seems to be the only downside and it is far out weighed by all the pluses. It's funny you mention the stretch, I went with yachte braid or sta set xl plain old double braid, I like it because it seems to keep a nice hand over time. When I was getting it the guy in the store who was helping me suggested the dymeena core would be a better halyard but it didn't seem to make sense so I opted out.

Thanks

Jake

[Ian McColgin]

Ahoy Jake,

Three strand v double braid is mostly a personal call, but given the 'rotational rigidity' of double braid, be sure to fake the line down to spread and take out the twist that normal coiling causes, or you will get godknots when it runs.

Some people figure eight rather than coil double braid to eliminate twise but faking is still needed since the loops tend to comingle during a sail. Others have tried some sort of box or tub to just fake the halyard into with the hope that it will lie there undisturbed and come out the same way. That works at all times except the dark and stormy night.

I think that on larger traditional boats with miles of halyard and sheet (Marmalade's main sheet is almost 200', which makes gybing a wholly different story than the little sloop pull it in bit) demand some real attention to line management. Once you get used to it, all's well. Till then, you dance the charlie foxtrot.

G'luck