Neil, I replaced my wire/rope internal hallyard with 1/4 inch dynema (vectra) rope thereby eliminating the aplice inside the mast. The 1/4 inch dynema is stronger than the origonal 3/8 inch rope tail and is not prone to the broken strands in the wire section that can catch on things. The origonal masthead shives on my '74 M17 were the right groove size for the new hallyards but I am not sure about your boat. Chuck Leinweber at Duckworks stocks a lot of hardware and materials for the home built boat crowd including, the 1/4 in. Dynema and is usually the best price. Chuck and Sandra are great to do business with and give very prompt service. Besides, they are aid sailors and Kayakers and the main sponsors of the Texas 200 sailing challenge. Whitebeard
From: ndorf@surfbest.net To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Date: Wed, 7 Jul 2010 14:19:44 +0000 Subject: M_Boats: Advice sought - wire to rope halyard
Hey guys,
Looking for some advice here on how to make my main halyard safer.
The wire-to-rope connection on my '85 M15 has proven to be unsafe and prone to tangles. It is rigged up exactly the way it was when I acquired it from the previous owner. The wire piece terminates with a shackle, as I believe it should, but the rope end seems to be rather kludgy).
The end of the rope part of the halyard is tied to a snap-type shackle. Rather than the shackle being just snapped on to the wire end shackle, it is fed through and then snapped back on the rope. While this arrangement has proven to be secure enough, the problem is that it creates a big bulge (think pig in the snake), right at the point with the two shrouds affix to the mast and also near the top of the fore-stay. Any amount of accidental buffeting in the wind of the halyard, while raising or lowering the main, causes the wire to rope joint (weighty such as it is) to easily get twisted and caught up top around the standing rigging. And when it happens, (Murphy's Law) it happens at the worst possible time.
My question is, what is the factory standard setup for the main halyard? Was there supposed to be an eye splice at the end of the rope halyard? Bowline? Buntline?
When it comes to sewing I'm all thumbs so I'm not inclined to try doing my own eye splice, so I'm hoping to hear that some other method has proven to be effective and reliable.
Thanks all,
Neil Dorf 1985 M15 #334 Roseville CA
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