CD28 Main Halyard

[riveredge]

My Main halyard needs replacing. Do I have to get the wire and rope hybrid set up that is on my boat now or will a 90' 7/16 double braided rope work as my main halyard replacement? My main halyard leads back to the cockpit with jam cleat and winch on deck system.

[appletim1]

I just got same setup for my (new to me) 1979 CD 27 from RW Rope in New Bedford, MA using just rope without wire.
Good people.

[riveredge]

Mine's a '79 CD28 so practically the same boat. Hope you are as happy with yours as I am with mine. Thanks for the RW referral. Looks like a good company and much cheaper than the national competition.

[John Stone]

9/16” is very large diameter for a halyard. I use 10mm (3/8”) double braid on my boat the Far Reach a 18,000 lb Cape Dory 36. So, I would not recommend a halyard over 7/16” max.

It’s important to match the sheeve profile to the halyard. Wire sheeves have a different profile. Also, the sheeve can often get very sharp edges when used with wire and it can damage a rope halyard.

[riveredge]

Yeah my previous owner liked fat ropes maybe for comfortable handling? The main halyard that got fouled on the winch and had to be cut was 9/16 rope attached to stainless steel wire. I'm surmising he liked that rig because he liked the fat rope part and it was too big for the sheeves. He also had a main sheet that was 9/16 or bigger. I'm not sure but it was too big for the blocks so I replaced it with 7/16. To replace the main halyard I called into duty an extra 7/16 jib halyard that came with the boat but that I wasn't using. I measured it at approximately 78' long and its long enough. Problem solved.