I have a Nonsuch 30 U, with a an electric Barient 28 in the cockpit. It works really well with the main sheet. It is also a great help raising the mainsail. However, it tends to to abraid the cover of the halyard when the sail is close to the top of the mast when the halyard is under the most strain. My current halyard , which I believe to be 10mm Marlow D-2 has abraided easier because of its softer cover. I am looking for recommendations from members who have had similar issues. I Am considering New England ropes Sta Set after discussing the problem with the boatyard who replaced the halyard most recently. I have also been advised that the sta set has a more durable cover but may have too much stretch even though it is recommended for halyards and sheets.
It kinda depends on your sailing interests and budget.
The Nonsuches were designed for nylon lines. Sta Set is, I’d guess, pretty comparable to what the boats were originally designed to use. Sta Set X is the next level up (and, in fact, a number of the rope distributors I know only sell that and not the original Sta Set), and is a good quality line at a good price. If you’re day sailing or coastal cruising and not concerned with getting the last tenth of a knot from your boat, it will serve just fine.
If you are more performance oriented and willing to expend more money, the next step up from Sta Set X would be something like EnduraBraid, which has a polyester nylon cover over a dyneema core. It’s very low stretch and has a good reputation.
The INA has a process for members to sign up with RWRope.com in order to get 10-15% discounts on their prices (sign on at www Nonsuch.org, open the MEMBERS tab, click MEMBERS SERVICES & DEALS, then scroll down to see the details). That doesn’t always yield the best prices but they’re well worth looking at.
RWRope.com also sells a brand called NovaBraid, which I’ve recently been told is a Canadian product. This may make it of special interest to our Canadian members. I’ve used NovaBraid quite a bit and found it every bit as good as the products like New England, Yale, and others, that are better known in the U.S.
In my experience the Marlow D-2 race which would be the equivalent to NE Endurabraid takes longer to wear in and can be slippery on winches until it does. I have halyards made of both, and the NE grips better out of the box but also starts to wear more quickly. The D-2 is very slippery to start but wears more slowly. I have also used NE Poly Tec and it’s probably the best grip and most abrasion resistant. Marlow has competing covers but you have to add them to a core. what you really want in anything with Technora mental/ cover.
Couple of things come to mind. The first would be why is the halyard chafing. Must be a bad lead or rough edge. I had chafe on my blooper halyard and it was caused by the sharp edges of the block.
Using a block with flared cheeks did the job.
My other thought is that with such a flexible rig having a very low stretch and costly halyard is not that important.
As I agree that depending on what kind of sailing you do, a high end halyard may not be for you. But as the mast will flex it doesn’t change hight (and that seems most relevant to the halyard) In my experience before upgrading to Dyneema i would experience stretch and have to retention the halyard multiple times if sailing any distance.
The low creep/ stretch may also causes other maintenance issues. For example I’ve gone through bearings in the cheek block at the base of the mast a few times. I’m not sure this is related to the halyard or just mileage, I’ve logged almost 1k nm this year already on Hippō and maybe that’s all I get out of a set of bearings.
Colle: We have found over the years that having our boat name, where and what it is makes a big difference in getting info on this discussion group.
Thanks,
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA