Threading on a new Halyard

[Terry Forshier]

I bought some new halyards and want to change them out from the old ones on the boat. It looked pretty straight forward, just tie on to the old one and thread it through. Then I see I have a shackel on one end. So, do I remove the old one pulling it through backwards with a leader line then attach to that line the new halyard and then pull that one through? Not knowing the set up on top with the (sheives) will this slide through pretty easy or is it a tight fit? I do not want to get hung up at 44 feet as I have no one who will go up at this time. (vacations on mast climbers) Just some advice from someone who has already done this. Terry

[SteveLyle]

There is no way to get a halyard over the masthead sheaves with an knot in it.  Even if you did, it wouldn't fit through the mast exit plate.

I use spliced on shackes on my halyards.  When I switch them out I butt the new and old halyards together (obvsiously at the non-shackle end), then sew them together with 4-5 stitches of whipping thread along their length.  Then wrap some duct tape around the joint to make sure everything stays smooth.  What you've got is a cheap, quick, very strong 'splice' that is about the thickness of duct tape thicker than the line itself.  Then just get at the shackle end and pull everything through.

I'm using oversized halyards (7/16?), and the 'splice' tends to bind at the top rivets on the exit plate, they just aren't quite wide enough.  I take a long screwdriver and force the splice away from the rivets, pulll it through the plate, and I'm good.

If you don't have a heavy duty needle an whipping thread, you can get it at West or similar.  Add with a palm 'thimble', and you'll also have everything you need to put a proper whipping on a line.

I take down my 'good' halyards every fall, and put up some old junky ones to take the weather.  Take the good ones home and wash them, and I'm ready for the spring.  It takes about 10 minutes/halyard to swap them out.

[Jeff Tancock]

I switched over my halyards last year. I had no problems using a leader line, tying a slender hitch knot then wrapping it tightly with electrical tape making sure that the were no "catches". I gently slide it through and the only hang up was the mast exit. Gently working it through took a bit of extra care but it worked fine for me. Repeat the process for the new halyard andyou are ready to go sailing!

[Rick Johnson]

I just replaced all my 3/8 inch halyards.  As with others, I butted the old and new together and put in 5 or 6 stitches of whipping thread.  Wrapped over this with a little electrical tape and just pulled the old halyard out.  Worked perfectly for both jib and main halyards.  I worried over this one way too much...

Cheers

[Ted Pounds]

I have a reeving (sp?) splice at the bitter ends of my halyards.  To make the splice you basically remove the core from the last few inches.  Then tuck the cover back into itself and sew it secure with whipping twine.  With the core removed the splice is no wider than the halyard.  This allows me to tie on a light messinger line that I can pull through an remove the halyard.  I do this every winter so I can store the halyards indoors, out of the weather.   I have messinger for each halyard which stay on the boat over the winter.  The messingers are 1/8" Dacron purchased at Wal-Mart.

[Ron Hill]

Terry : Rick did it right!!  I just redid a halyard today and sewed it with thread and then used some blue masking tape to insure the end threads couldn't get caught. 
Pull it in from either direction.   

[isabel98]

I did this operation last season, I cut the shackle off of the old halyard and attached the new halyard with strong sail repair thread (easily removed later), to the severed end of the old halyard (no big deal, 'cause the old ones are just going to be docklines anyway, but save the shackles..) and then taped it tightlly with black electrician tape. making sure the transition between the two was as uniform as possible. Then make a sign of the cross and slowly pull the halyard through. nice and easy does it and no problemo! cheers, Isabel..

[Mike Smith]

I ran three new halyards this morning - piece of cake!  I bought three 120' lengths of white ($0.75/ft), white w/red fleck($0.79/ft), and white w/green fleck ($0.79/ft) Sta-Set 7/16" on Ebay from Milwaukee Rigging.  Good price, good service. I butted the ends of the old and new halyards together and used #2 sail thread.  I pierced the halyards about 3/8" away from the butted ends with a #1 needle directly through the core, rotating the splice 1/4 turn for a total of 4 passes, and pulling the splice tight each time.  I cut the thread and knotted and trimmed it.  I tested the splice with a good strong pull and then covered the splice with blue masking tape, starting about 3/4" above the splice spiraling down and ending up about 3/4" below the splice.  I pulled the spliced halyards through with no problem at all, removed the tape and teased out the threads.  I, too, worried way too much over this project!

Mike

[Bruce Hanson]

Question for Steve Lyle:What prompted you to over size this halyard? I am looking to replace ours soon due to overall condition, we also get some droop after sailing awhile. I imagine 7/16 is easier to grip and I am all for beefing up this line as it sometimes requires some help with the winch to finish hoisting. If you had to replace again would you still oversize? Does the additional diameter make for a significantly larger coil to store in a area which is already crowded?

[Jim Price]

This is more expensive solution but I replaced my haylards 5 years ago with T-900 (10mm size I think) and after 5 years, they are still like "steel" - zero stretch.

I was able to get this stuff from West Marine under a "new boat owner" discount.  Was probably about 40% at the time.  Well worth the price over the years.

Just another idea.

[SteveLyle]

What prompted me was an interest in reducing stretch and improving the 'hand' of the line.

When I replace my current lines, I'll go back down to 3/8".  In my opinion, to run 9/16" halyards you really need larger opening plates in the mast.  The rivets that attach the stock plates tend to interfere a bit with the 9/16 line.  I really don't think the difference in stretch or 'hand' outweighs that.

[Ron Hill]

Stave : I think that most of us that upsized our halyard lines went to 7/16" NOT 9/16". 
I tend to agree that all of the sheaves were meant of 3/8" line.  You need to see if a larger line (than 3/8s) will bind on the blocks walls and that the you have fair lead to the block/turning block.  If you don't, then stick with 3/8" halyards.
The same goes for the Main traveler.  It was meant for 5/16" line, but most of us have gone to 3/8" line as it's easier to grip!!  Look at your sheaves and "block walls", as 3/8" line may bind!!

Don't know of any problems with 1/2" Genoa sheet lines.

[SteveLyle]

Ron, you're right, I meant 7/16, not 9/16.

[Jeff_McKinney]

As a general guideline: If you have rope clutches (Lewmar, XAS, Spinlock, etc) for your halyards, etc, make sure the new lines will feed through easily. Otherwise you will get mighty frustrated trying to pull them through. In some cases the clutch might not close properly.