New England Rope vs Yale Cordage

M. R. Bober · Post by **M. R. Bober** » Oct 12th, '10, 17:35

Maine Sail has posted (on another site) information regarding a new product from Yale Cordage (Ph.D. a coated Spectra single braid). I met Skip Yale at the Annapolis Boat Show. We discussed this new product while I fondled it.

STARVIEW will be getting new running rigging this winter, and I have previously used Sta-Set & Sta-Set-X exclusively. Does anyone have experience with Yale's products?

Mitchell Bober
Sunny Lancaster (where little girls are made of sugar and splice), VA

Joe CD MS 300 · Post by **Joe CD MS 300** » Oct 12th, '10, 18:28

What site was it? Mainesail posts a lot on sailnet but I didn't find it there.

Maine Sail · Post by **Maine Sail** » Oct 13th, '10, 18:48

Skip is a member at our yacht club and a super nice guy. PH D is far too much line IMHO for a CD, no offense to Skip. I am personally not a big fan of single braid lines unless racing exotic boats with words like graphite, kevlar and resin infusion in the build description. My HArken furler came with a Yale single braid spec'd by Harken and built by Yale. Harken wound up eating nearly every furler line and had yale make them new double braided line. The new Harken furler line is basically Yale ULS YAcht Braid in balck with red tracer. It is SIGNIFICANTLY better on the hands and much less slippery on the cleat.

There are two excellent Yale products that I do recommend for cruising. Yale ULS Yacht Braid and Yale Vizzion. ULS Yacht Braid has less stretch than NER Sta-Set X yet sports a 24 core jacket and is NOT a parallel core. It is priced very competitively and has a great hand. It is a much better value than Sta-Set or Sta-Set X and has a significantly better jacket.

Yale Vizzion is a Vectran LPC / Olefin core with a polyester jacket. It has very low stretch and a decent price. Yale Crystaline is a full vectran core and only a little more expensive, about $2.00 per foot for 3/8" line. I like it better than NER VPC though VPC is an excellent value in a cruising halyard..

bottomscraper · Post by **bottomscraper** » Oct 13th, '10, 19:50

How is Yale ULS for splicing? I have been "eyeing" that for
replacing the adjustable part of our topping lift. It needs a small
eye splice.

Maine Sail · Post by **Maine Sail** » Oct 13th, '10, 20:25

It is still a braided double braid and not a parallel core. The braids are longer, less tight, to reduce stretch but it splices similarly to Sta-Set. I am NOT a good splicer but the guy I have do my splicing said it was pretty standard.

Maine Sail · Post by **Maine Sail** » Oct 14th, '10, 18:47

I spoke with Skip Yale today and got the comparison between StaSet X and Yale ULS Yacht Braid. At 1300 pounds working load for a 7/16" line the difference in stretch is about 0.38% - 0.40%. The parallel core StaSet X has ever so slightly less elongation but is just a horrendous line in terms of feel and handling with the parallel core. It is also more money.

Yale ULS Yacht Braid

Yale Vizzion:

NER VPC:

StaSet X:

Len · Post by **Len** » Oct 14th, '10, 21:06

For those of you still working in three strand line (is that like a rotary dial phone?) I could use some information . I am making several eye splices and end splices in polyester three strand. When the splice is done and I have just a nib of fray showing, my usual procedure is to burn the fuzz. This leaves a nice round bulb finish. However the line I am using is a really nice white but burns very dark when finished as above. Some old line I have appear to have a white something at the ends. It would really look better looking in a more nonobtrusive finish.What is it?
Len

Oswego John · Post by **Oswego John** » Oct 14th, '10, 22:01

Hi Len,

Some people like to use Whip End Dip. It can be applied with a Q-Tip, also.

http://www.gemplers.com/product/132148/Whip-End-Dip

It can be purchased much cheaper than this advertised price. About $6 and change. It comes in clear as well as in colors, too.

There are other brands similar to this that work just as well.

O J

Joe Myerson · Post by **Joe Myerson** » Oct 15th, '10, 07:37

Len,

Sometimes I wrap the "fuzzy" ends with waxed whipping line. It's light-colored and looks quite neat.

--Joe

The Patriot · Post by **The Patriot** » Oct 15th, '10, 08:11

Len wrote: ... I am making several eye splices and end splices in polyester three strand ... the line I am using is a really nice white but burns very dark when finished . What is it? ...

It's just what you described: polyester. In simplest terms this material is a long-chain petrochemical derivative. When it burns it becomes what chemists call a "tar" (in layman's terms, a black gooey mess). There's no way around this as many will recall from failed experiments in organic chemistry lab.

One method with laid or 3-strand is to taper the finished splice. After making 4 tucks in each of the 3 strands, make another tuck with only 2 of the strands, and a final tuck with only 1 of the remaining strands. In doing this get all 3 strands to exit their last tuck on the same side of the rope in a tapered fashion. Not only does this look better, but it's also stronger (the stress where a strand exits is distributed along the line rather than at a single point). A splice finished in this manner is also less likely to hang in use, an important practical consideration.

Then either use a hot knife carefully to finish the splice if you can live with the black color of the melted strand, or cut close and whip as Joe suggested. Note that this whipping will be a bit ungainly and long, and will not work well unless you use a heavy enough whipping twine that corresponds to the rope size you are working on. When whipping a splice you will not be able to do a "barrel" stitch or similar as is common with other laid or double braid whippings.

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Oct 15th, '10, 08:32

MaineSail... thanks for sharing the good info on the new Yale products. It is now time for me to replace the good old main halyard on my CD-33.
What do you think would be a good replacement for this, the Vizzion or the Yale ULS YAcht Braid... I really need a no-stretch, or lowest stretch- but easy to handle line there. Thanx

Joe Myerson · Post by **Joe Myerson** » Oct 15th, '10, 08:33

Armond,

You're right.

The whipping I usually do is not barrelled -- and it really serves to cover the ragged end fibers.

--Joe

Zeida · Post by **Zeida** » Oct 15th, '10, 08:34

WHAT???? Glen Beck owns a Cape Dory? Then he must have SOME good in him after all...

I better stop right here...

Joe Myerson · Post by **Joe Myerson** » Oct 15th, '10, 09:08

Zeida wrote:WHAT???? Glen Beck owns a Cape Dory? Then he must have SOME good in him after all... I better stop right here...

Is he going to join the CDSOA?

(Remember: No politics here!)

--Joe

moctrams · Post by **moctrams** » Oct 15th, '10, 09:19

I buy all my cordage, halyard, dock lines from Cajun Rope Co. in New Foundland.

http://www.cajunrope.com/

The Cape Dory Board

New England Rope vs Yale Cordage

New England Rope vs Yale Cordage

Yale ULS - How is it to splice?

three strand

Three Strand

Whipping line

Finishing Laid Rope Splices

Yale Ropes

Yes, no "barrel" stitch

Say What?

Cajun Rope