DaySailer.org Forum

I have an old Proctor mast with three internal halyards (Main, jib and spinnaker). I want to replace them before they break. What size and type line should I use?

I have internal halyards on my Rhodes 19 and it uses 1/4". I wouldn't think the Day Sailer would need any heavier line than that. I know the external halyards are 1/4"

John

Anything bigger than 1/4 inch wouldn't fit. The Main and jib halyard look to be 1/4 inch while the spinnaker halyard is 3/16 inch. I should have asked at the NAC this year.

Need to know what kind of Proctor Mast you have? I use 3/16" Prestretch for the Jib & Spinnaker Halyards and 1/8" Spectra with a polyester Cover over the lower half for the Main Halyard.

There are two Daysailers at our club with Proctor masts and neither has a label. Based on the time period and the profile, I would guess a Proctor D.

I was too cheap to go with an all spectra main halyard with a half-cover, so I used 1/8th" Amsteel for the half that will be under load and spliced that onto a 3/16" double braided (Samson XLS) using the excellent instructions on http://l-36.com. The XLS is loaded only while raising the sail and its stretch characteristics are therefore not important.

Allen calls the splice a Halyard splice, and I found it a fun project. Amsteel is 12-strand single braid and that makes for really easy splicing - in fact doing something like an eyesplice in that material is far simpler than in double-braid, and even simpler than in traditional 3-strand rope.

While at it, I also eliminated the shackle between halyard and headboard, because it caused my sail not to be raised to full height. That means not actually doing an eye splice and thimble at the end. Instead, there are several options for the end of the halyard.

One is to put a toggle at the end of the halyard, perhaps using a plastic ball and/or a bulky knot, like a diamond knot. Here are instructions how to use this setup with a toggle. With a knot or a ball, I change the last step shown in

so that I lead the knot/ball back through the loop, making a cow hitch. That has worked well on my main and saved me the trouble of having to fashion a toggle or splice anything.

The others are to splice some form of soft shackle into the end of the halyard, such as this Hybrid Soft Halyard Shackle. I've done a similar version of this and all I can say is that it's rather easier than it looks. If you dig a bit deeper in the L-36.com site, you will find instructions for alternate designs.