I always thought there was truth to the racer cruiser thing until I went racing for a number of years and then I learned "hand" was a slippery slope. Before doing my tenure racing my cruiser had some elegant diameter lines but then I began to learn lessons about crew fatigue in 24 hour plus races.
The stretch of a line factors directly into keeping the sails in trim under variable winds. Stretchy line means bigger knock downs in a gust and having to trim sails frequently. Conclusion stretchy line leads to more crew fatigue. So what was considered good for "hand" was bad for the crew. That for most of us will take us to Sta-set X as a good price point solution for low stretch. The other "hand" myth I was bought into was bigger diameter was easier to grip and better on your hands. What I learned is how much force is required to bend a line around a sheave under load is directly related to the line's diameter. Increase the line size and the actual force to do the job can increase dramatically. This is especially true if you exceed the blocks line size. Besides the obvious rubbing on the sides that could occur it takes more force to bend the line bulging over the side of the sheave like a flat tire. So I learned to buy the diameter specified by the factory (in this case 5/16") and save the crew. Add the last "hand" related lesson I learned if I replaced the plain sheaves with ball bearing sheaves lines ran so free I could easily raise the main to full hoist without a winch. This is not important, except to note it was a lot less work. I guess that was the next to the last. The last was spinnaker sheet line diameter and line type. Initially I did not listen to my sail maker and did it the "hand" way which resulted in me concluding it was a terrible sail. Two years later I rethought my selection for sheets and it magically became a wonderful sail capable of light air performance that caused a series jaw drops one evening as I sailed past a group of boats waiting for the evening breeze to fill. When converting to a continuous 5/16" halyard from a spliced wire-line halyard the mast head sheaves should really be inspected and most likely changed from a wire style to line sheave. Typically the wire sheave has a V groove and the line sheave has a U groove. "Hand" is still a factor and some racers will rig a boat with Kevlar twine to when races but Catalina Yachts isn't one of those so stay with the factory recommendations. Phil Agur <http://www.catalina27.org/public_pages/profile270.htm> s/v Wing Tip Secretary, Call Sign WCW3485 IC27/270A MMSI 366901790 www.catalina27.org Vessel Doc# 1039809 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sneddon, Keith Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 8:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: RE: catalina27-talk: Main halyard replacement I think this may be one of those "racer vs. cruiser" things. The Sta-Set is not as stiff, true, but 3/8 Sta-set has better "hand" and better wear resistance than 5/16 Sta-Set x, T-900, etc. On my boat, I still have only 2 external halyards. I had a local rigger make me up a spliced wire/Sta-Set 3/8 main Halyard. My original mast head sheaves were in good shape, so I left them. When the main is up, I have wire down to just above the turning block on the deck, then Sta-Set for the remainder through the deck organizer and the Cam-Block on the cabin top, just forward of the winch(maybe 8-10 ft of Sta-Set under tension). The downside of wire halyards is that you can't use the fancy-shmancy roller bearing sheaves at the masthead, as the steel wire will eat through the anodized aluminum sheave in no time flat. My solution was the cheapest option I looked at, will last a long time, and gives me reasonable overall halyard stretch control. For my Jib halyard, I have a CDI furler with an internal halyard, so the Jib Halyard is there primarily as a spare, or if I (God Forbid) have to haul somebody in on the Lifesling, so stretch is not much of a consideration. If I get to the point where I am competitively racing this boat, I will go internal exotic all rope halyards (4x), lose the CDI, get the nice sheaves, etc. Keith Sneddon -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of tim ford Sent: Tuesday, June 24, 2008 10:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: catalina27-talk: Main halyard replacement Agree. 5/16th is the way to go and you'll get much better performance with Sta-Set-X then with Sta-Set, as it has much higher stretch resistance....Sta-Set is like bungy-cord...Sta-Set X is almost as good as T-900 (well, not really but it's so much cheaper) tf Mark Tamblyn wrote: > > I think you will be happier with 5/16 I'm pretty sure that is what I used. > This e-mail and any files transmitted with it may be proprietary and are intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this e-mail in error please notify the sender. 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