Up the mast and down to the deck (P+I) plus distance back to the winch plus about 8 feet would be the minimum. Dennis’s suggestion of an extra length to let you end for end the halyard makes a lot of sense, too.
My main halyard is actually a bit longer yet. It is long enough to go from having the shackle in the water, up to the end of the boom, up to the top of the mast, back down, back to the winch, plus an extra 10 feet. The idea is something I picked up in a safety course some time ago. I can shackle a snatch block at the end of the boom, run the halyard through it, and use the halyard for getting a MOB up out of the water and onto the deck or into the cockpit. The drawback is that there is quite a bit of tail aft of the winch when the sail is up. In order to avoid clutter, I installed a large mesh sail bag on the aft cabin bulkhead outboard of the instruments to port and starboard of the companionway. That gives me storage space for the tails of 2 genoa and 2 spin halyards, the vang, the Cunningham, and the main halyard. They also make passable back cushions when lounging in the cockpit after sailing. Rick Brass Washington, NC From: CnC-List [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dennis C. via CnC-List Sent: Friday, April 03, 2015 9:13 PM To: schiller; CnClist Subject: Re: Stus-List Main Halyard Length Neil, I buy extra length so I can end for end the line if I need to. I've found that more often than not, if a halyard gets damaged, it's in the 2-3 feet near the shackle. Since the other end hasn't been loaded, I can cut the damaged end off, splice an eye with the shackle in the other end and not have to buy a whole new halyard. IMHO, buying an extra 10 feet of halyard is cheap insurance against having to buy a whole new halyard. Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA
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