halyard design change

[Rob Leigh]

Greetings all,

I am a new member and am looking forward to learning and exchanging ideas with you all.

I have a T-Gull 23 tri and a Supersunfish. Both use a locking halyard at the top of the mast to hold up the main.

I recently had a stroke and it has compromised my ability to tension the T-Gull's halyard and rotate the mast to lower the main.

I am seriously thinking of replacing the hook at the top of the mast with a winch/cleat at the foot of the rotating mast. Is there a potential mast compression problem here? I would need different non-stretching halyard material; Westmarine suggests their Sta-Set X Polyester Double Braid. The halyard is 1/4" in diameter, but the block at the top of the mast may allow a slightly larger diameter.

Thoughts or other solutions?

Thanks much in advance,

Rob

[gonzo]

The problem is not the compression, but that the halyard will act like the string on a bow, making it bend more. It may overstress the mast.

[Rob Leigh]

Gonzo,


Thanks for the quick reply. I never thought of the bow effect. Probably because I used to have a Santana 22 mono in SF Bay with the same proposed halyard design. I guess Schock designed the Santana's mast with "bow effect in mind.

I've heard of halyard locks. What are they?Does anyone know if they would help?

Thanks,

Rob

[gonzo]

Isn't it what you have a halyard lock? There are many types, but maybe you can also use internal halyards. The upper sheave will have to be differenct and then you need a hole in the bottom for the halyard to exit.

[Perm Stress]

Why not use winch for hoisting and leave halyard lock in place? Thus many problems would be avoided...

[Rob Leigh]

Perm Stress,
Sounds like a good approach. I assume you mean to detach the lock from the mast and attach it to the halyard. This does leave tension on the halyard, however.

On the internet I saw an ad for the Karver hook K-FH Emerillion halyard lock. It attaches to the halyard just by raising the halyard to it and pulling hard; it can then be detached by just holding the halyard to the side and jerking.

Anyone have knowledge of this hardware? I have a call in for the distributor in Newport, RI.

Stay tuned!

Rob

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Rob Leigh

I've heard of halyard locks. What are they?Does anyone know if they would help?

Thanks,

Rob

There are all sorts of halyard locks for boats from dinghies to maxi boats.

A quick google search will point you towards a lot of options.

I have one one my keel boat http://www.rigrite.com/Spars/XHalyard_Locks.html
Scroll down and look at the "Special". It might be overkill for your pupose, but there are others that work the same way. You just pull the halyard up, it hooks. Pull it up more, it unhooks and can drop. I use a low stretch line halyard (no wire). You do need to have the boat pointed into the wind to get the hook up to work easily.

Selden also makes a nice one for wire halyards with a ball swaged on.