Spinnaker Halyard

[tpf]

My snap shackle on my spinnaker halyard finally gave up the ghost. It seems to be locked on the deck but about 1/2 way up it opens. For next week I am going to safety wire it closed but I was wondering if anyone had any recomendations on a replacement halyard. Any preference on the type or brand of shackle...also a good supplier would be appreciated.

Thanks
Terry

[Tom Line]

I use 72 feet of V2 racing 5/16" for my spin. It's huge overkill for the boat but I think my bowman would probably not appreciate it on his hands during a heavy-air hoist.

Note I do not lead my halyard aft to the cockpit - you may want more length if you do that. You could get really fancy and strip the core off your halyard if you like.

I got my lines at www.layline.com. They'll strip them for you if you'd like. It looks like "Crystalyn" is currently the lowest cost similar line they have ($1.55 vs 2.08 a foot).

Really, any low stretch line will work.

[Tim Bosma]

Our bowman carries a roll of blue electrical tape for just that purpose - taping the shackles on the spinnaker. We have had all 3 let go at various times.
Our halyards are 5/16" Sta-Set X.
Thanks,

[LarryE-old]

Tim,
Lost one of our biggest regatta's last year because the halyard opened.
Now we always tape the spin halyard.
I use 5/16 warp speed, most likely overkill.

[John Spierling]

We always tape the spinnaker halyard snap shackle, no matter what the wind speed. Sheets are stripped to the cores and are tied with bowlines to the clews.

[dopierce]

Does anybody use a snap hook instead of a snap shackle on the spin halyard?
I'm using them on the spin pole with good results.

[tpf]

Tape did the trick for now

Thanks

[dave]

The solution is obvious, get rid of the shackle! I stopped using snap shackles on ANY boat for the spinnaker halyard or sheets around 15 years ago. Bowlines DON"T come untied under load, period. They weigh nothing and if you ever need to change anything they are easy to undue, no matter how much load has been on them. It takes longer to pull/cut the tape off and get the shackle open [if you need to] than to just untie a bowline.I use a "Bozo Ball" sewn onto the halyard about "9" from the top end to keep the halyard from falling through the mast in case any "Bozo" lets go of it/pulls on it when it's not attatched to anything.

Dave