Page 45 - The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice

chafe-resistant, and doesn’t stiffen or shrink when For cruising or racing, you might subdivide the
the weather turns wet. halyard category, dedicating the most extreme rope
“Spun” three-strand Dacron, in which the yarns to the most extreme loads. So there’d be a little less
are spun from a series of short fibers, is relatively size and a little more stretch in the drifter halyard
weak, but is sometimes a preferred construction than in the jib halyard, for instance.
because of its comfortable feel. “Filament” Dacron, But then you might match your ideal require-
with the yarns made up of continuous fibers or ments with the rope that meets your specs, look
filaments, is slicker but significantly stronger and at the price per foot, and decide to take up pow-
less elastic. erboating. If that’s the case, it’s time to go back
One other running-rigging choice, especially over your ideals and see if you can get what you
appropriate for traditional craft, is ultraviolet-sta- want, or something like it, for less. And you prob-
bilized split-fiber polypropylene—a multisyllabic ably can; ropemakers know that some of their
way of saying that it won’t break down in sunlight high-tech stuff is absurdly high-priced, so they
or chafe to pieces as fast as ordinary polypropyl- do what they can to get comparable performance

ene does. Roblon and Navy Flex are two of the out of lower-tech. The best example of this is New
better-known brands of this kind of rope. You still England Rope’s VPC, (see below), a product with
need to be very conscious of chafe with the stuff, a blended HM core that stretches half as much as
using large blocks and making sure all leads are fair, double-braid Dacron, and costs half as much as
but it is inexpensive, has a delightful feel to it, holds rope with an all-HM core.
its lay, is easily spliced, and even floats. That’s a blitz You can also save a lot by playing with size.
of things to choose from, but the process need not Nine-sixteenths-inch might look right, but if
be confusing. Again, evaluate your craft and sailing you look at the actual loads you might find that
style, then choose accordingly. 3 ⁄8 -inch is way plenty strong, and still feels fine in
For example, think of the variables involved your hands. Pay attention to diameter even if you
in choosing rope to control the sails. There are so do have money to burn; extra diameter means extra
many different jobs to be done, each with its own weight and windage.
variables of magnitude, handling, and compatibility One more useful useful distinction: with most
with things like cleats, winches, and stoppers. You running rigging at the deck, the loads are usually
could practically have a different rope for every line highest when the runs are shortest, whereas with
aboard. That would be silly, of course. But consider- most running rigging aloft, the loads are usually
ing the spectrum of running rigging requirements, it hightest when the runs are longest. So with the
is equally silly to have just one type of rope aboard, mainsheet, for example, you don’t get high loads
and you see that a lot. until the boom is strapped in tight and you are going
As a compromise between specialization and to weather, while the halyard for the mains’l, in the
simplicity, it’s sensible to divide the rig into general same circumstance, has to run all the way up the
requirements, and install rope to suit (see chart, mast, and partway back down, to get to the head
page 25). For example, halyards would be one cat- of the sail. Because elasticity is a function of length,
egory. In that category you’d first scale for load, the sheet won’t stretch much no matter how high
using catalog recommendations or sail area/boat the load, but that halyard will. So it makes sense to
speed formulas. Then you might ask yourself how invest in low-stretch material for the halyard, but
much performance matters to you. If you planned to the same material would be wasted on the sheet.
race, you’d start shopping for a rope of the needed In addition, you handle the sheet all the time,
strength that was maximally inelastic. If you were while the halyard is infrequently adjusted. So stiff-
planning to cruise, you might wander off in search ness is not a big issue in a halyard rope, while sup-
of any old rope because “it’s only for cruising,” but pleness and a good grip are very important for a
don’t—mediocre rigging will cripple your boat. sheet. So ergonomic needs are well-served, too.
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