Ascender and Line Wear

[John Stone]

A while back I posted a question about incorporating a halyard jig in place of halyard winches on my boat. Thanks to all for lots of good input. It seems like a reasonable solution might be to use an ascender on a block and tackle to gain final tension on the halyard. The tackle would be secured to a pad-eye or eyebolt in the deck near the mast. I would hand-over-hand the halyard until I needed mechanical advantage and then attach the ascender and block and tackle for the last part of the hoist.

I looked at some ascenders at a local climbing store. They have some fairly aggressive teeth. What kind of wear and tear will these kind of ascenders cause to your standard double braid dacron line often used for halyards? Thinking about how this would work, it seems the ascender will be used routinely in the same general area on the halyard as it is applied during the last few feet of hoist.

Would routinely using an ascender on double braid cause excessive wear? What about wear on other kinds of line used for halyards, e.g. spectra, etc.

I assume the ascenders could also be used for climbing the halyards as well (with appropriate safety lines). Is there a brand and model that would work best for this kind of application?

If the wear is excessive I think I could still use the same set up with a couple of dedicated lines for prusiks that would be attached to the block and tackle.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts, suggestions, and insights.

[Ian McColgin]

I have not seen appreciable wear from an ascender used for climbing. Whatever wear there is is spread all over and not concentrated in one place. Used for clapping on a tackle, on the other hand, produces repeated strain in about the same place. Also, when climbing the load is just the weight of the climber and is not loaded in one place for very long. If I recall the other discussion, you had in mind a way of getting the ascender off once the halyard was up and tensioned but I did not really understand it. If you had to leave the ascender in place, I think that would be very hard on the halyard.

You can get 3:1 by having a block spliced to the end of the halyard such that when the sail is struck the shackle at the peak is easily reached and the block is just shy of going through the jib halyard sheave or block. That block has the rest of the halyard length spliced to the blocks becket and passes up through the block before going down. When the jib is nearly up, hold the halyard with one hand and pull out the bight that goes from the becket around the block and down. Plop the bight over an open turning block on the mast and then finish tensioning the sail.

G'luck

[John Stone]

Ian,
Thanks for the quick reply.

As you pointed out, I would not leave the ascender/tackle rigged to take the strain indefinitely. Once I clapped it on, and tensioned the halyard, I would secure the halyard around the belaying pin (on the mast) and remove the ascender. I could use the ascender and tackle arrangement for any of the halyards -- main, staysail, jib -- as necessary. My concern is would the teeth on the ascender chew through the halyard over time due to repeated use in the same general area?

Have I overlooked something?

Thanks.

[Ian McColgin]

I think a lot will depend on the ascender design. Cam cleats and rope clutches in many applications grab the line in the same place with no unusual wear. If you look around, perhaps there's an ascender that's not too sharp or aggressive.

Alternative is to check out the half dozen or so nipper hitches that have served this job in the past and see if there's one you really like.

[John Stone]

True enough. Well perhaps one of the forum readers has some experience with a particular ascender they like. I spent a little time the other day experimenting with a prusik connected to a block and tackle on a line rigged like a halyard in my boat shed. It grips plenty tight but is difficult to rig and operate one handed. But, I believe I could make it work with practice. The real question is how well will it work on a pitching deck. Of course, cranking on a halyard winch in rough water can get interesting too. Simplicity is great until it makes your life more difficult without some corresponding advantage. But, I digress.

[knuterikt]

Spinlock has got jammer that can be put over a rope with a strop.

http://www.spinlockusa.com/webcam/ja...ed-line-8-10mm