Genoa Halyard Wire Replacement
 

I'm replacing my halyards on a Pearson 386. I've currently got wire/double braid halyards and am inclined to switch to all rope. I've currently got 3/16" wire / 7/16" rope.

The main is easy - the position of the sheave leaves plenty of clearance as the line exists the masthead to ensure not chafe. So I'm planning to swap those sheaves out with delrin and go to an all-rope main halyard.

The genoa halyard seems to be more challenging. The genoa sheave is set back into the masthead more than the main sheaves such that the existing wire has worn a groove in the mast extending down about 3" from the exit. This seems to be the result of the halyard restainer (a metal Schaefer one) pulling the halyard straight down, rather than foward and parallel with the headstay, and the wire groove in the sheave effectively making the sheave diameter somewhat smaller for the wire than for the rope tail. The clearance between the sheave and the headstay toggle makes it impossible to increase the sheave diameter more that the current ones.

So an this point I'm debating between keeping a wire/ rope halyard or switching to rope. If I do that, I'd sand down the grooves that have been worn into the mast and switch to a delrin sheave. I'm thinking that a harken halyard restrainer might allow the halyard to exit the sheave with slightly more angle. I'm still leary of swapping because of chafe potential.

I'm guesing this is a fairly common scenario on older boats. Can you offer any suggestions?

Thanks!

Angles
 

Hi,
First, the large Harken restrainer will gain you a fraction of an inch, but it seems unlikely that this will give you appreciably more clearance, since it won't increase the halyard angle much. So I'm more inclined to look at the sheave first. What is the current tread depth? If that wire notch is even as little as 1/4", and if the rope notch is also deeper than it needs to be, then you might be able to push the lead significantly closer to the forward face of the mast. It is possible that the overall diameter of the sheave can't be increased (though double-check that), but the tread depth can.
Then I'd look at restrainer location: is it now positioned to give a good lead to the swivel, when the swivel is about 4" from the top of the foil? This assumes that the foil is right up close to the upper terminal. Many restrainers are too low for proper lead of halyard to swivel.
Finally, if you still need to adjust the mast mortise, cut big. That is, instead of filing a notch, which is a stress riser, cut a nice, deep radius, something that matches the mortise width at the top.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Thanks! Great suggestions.

I've done more careful measurement and it seems that I could enlarge the sheave grove diameter enough to clear the mast face without chafing.

It looks like the masthead was originally designed without a furler in mind. Without the restrainer, the halyard will exit the sheave and then would run clear of everything if it were aligned to run parallel to and about 2" aft of the headstay.

The Harken further literature recommends an 8-10 degree back angle on the halyard. I'm guessing that's why the restrainer (a small deformed, chafed eyestrap) was added in the first place, produce more of an angle to the further swivel. I'd prefer no restrainer, but it looks like the designer when to great lengths to make the halyard parallel to the headstay, so I'd think I might be setting up a wrap maker if I leave the restainer off.

I've decided to got with a VPC halyard, so it looks like my best option is to increase my sheave diameter enough to avoid chafe and then put a better halyard restrainer on.

Do you prefer any particular brand of restainer for use with rope? Or have any great alternatives to a restrainer?

Thanks!
Doug

Brion,

Great suggestions - THANKS! I got slightly larger sheaves from Zepherwerks and the clearance problem has been solved.

Doug