Slap Happy (halyard management)

[craiglaforce]

Just wondering how others deal with their halyards.
I've found that leaving about a foot or so of slack in the mainsail halyard seems to keep in from slapping in most conditions. The halyard just drifts downwind and sort of floats out there. WHen they are tighter, they tend to do a lot more slapping.

Before this, I would wrap a bungee several times around between the halyard and a shroud, But you really had to pull it hard to the side to keep it from slapping. (It also worked though).

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I attach the shackles on the working ends outboard. The jib halyard goes to the bow pulpit, and the main halyard goes to the starboard lifeline. This get's rid of half the problem. Then I use a cinch it bungee on each side to pull the standing portion out to the lower shrouds on each side at just above head height. They don't have to be super tight. This stops all the slapping on my boat. The cinch it bungees are great because there is no wrapping round and round or messing with the silly metal hooks. They adjust to any length you need instantly. The plastic head is a jam cleat for the tail. Just pull on the loop to tension and slide it over the tail. Tuck the tail through the finger loop for extra security.

[craiglaforce]

Thanks, I had never seen that bungee design before. I might have to get a few of those.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

I have about 15 of them. They come in two sizes. I use them everywhere. They are great for cleaning everything up quickly when trailering. Far, far better than the old rusty hook ones that are never the right length.

[Moe]

I was bound and determined to get some "Cinch-It's." But when I ordered my big-headed furler pins, I forgot to order some of those. My wife had picked up a package of two pairs of bungies that consisted of a loop with a plastic ball. Looping a pair togther in a squars knot resulted in a bungi with a ball on each end, like I use on my pony tail. Their size is perfect for looping around the mast and holding the halyards, and rolled furler. One more loop (for a triple square knot) works well for just the mast and halyards.

--
Moe

[Moe]

Here they are... extremely fast to use, but admittedly not as adjustable as the Chinch-It's. Luckily, they're perfect for the 26X.





--
Moe

[Glenn C.]

I'm glad some one brought this up. It is so rude of others (its all about me people) to allow their halyards to slap. The marina sounds like a wind chime factory. I tighten my halyards as tight as I can. The I take acouple of velcroe bands and wrap them around the mast and halyard then slide them up as far as I can. Like Moe does. I do not get any halyard slap and get a good nights sleep.

Glenn,
99X

[norbert]

right glenn! no need to have halyards clonging against the mast. my way to go: the main halyard has some slack and is bungied to the starboard shrouds. the jib halyard (the original one on the mast) is very tight and passes on both sides of the steam lights. this prevents it from making noise.

[Jesse Days Pacific Star 2]

I've never stayed at a marina yet that the halyards aren't slapping. Might not be popular, but we think it adds some flavor to the whole experience.

J.

[Frank C]

I was bound and determined to get some "Cinch-It's." But when I ordered my big-headed furler pins, I forgot to order some of those.

I've called them ball-bungies, but I think they're the same as Cinch-Its. No need to order them. Browse thru your local Walmart in the section with Sporting Goods, Automotive, Camping, Boating(?) stuff .... they're red elastic w/ black ball, in a clear plastic cylinder pack, ten for about 2 bucks.

[TonyHouk]

Hey All,
I agree with Jesse on this thread. I lived on my X for half a year. It was the best sleep I have ever had. I liked to hear the halyards slapping. It was like a wind chime. I guess to each his own on that issue. If I remeber right for a while ago, I left the halyards slack. I don't recall if this added to the harmony or not. Well happy sails and wind songs. Tony

[Mark Prouty]

I have about 15 of them. They come in two sizes. I use them everywhere. They are great for cleaning everything up quickly when trailering. Far, far better than the old rusty hook ones that are never the right length.

Ah, there you go again Duane!
I was happy with my 100 metal ended bungies of various lengths. Looks like my bungie collection will now total 115.

By the way, both my son and I took a nasty bungie slap this last summer. They sting!

Moe - thanks for the pix.

[craiglaforce]

To me its a matter of degree. A little light dinging is sort of therapeutic sounding, but sometimes in higher winds it sounds more like small arms fire.

Usually there are some livaboard powerboaters and people that live and work around the marina as well that might appreciate it when it is a little quieter.

I am sort of like Pavlov's dog. When I walk into an office building with a big flag pole and a slapping flag halyard, I get a sudden urge to go sailing.

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Frank C,

Cinch-Its are very different from ball bungees. Take a look at the picture I linked to and you will see there is a big difference.

Cinch-It's have a flat piece of plastic with a finger hole and a jam cleat at one end of the shock cord only. You take a turn or two around the object and then put the shock cord tail in the jam cleat at any length from 1" to the far end of the shock cord. They are an 'any length you need' bungee. They are far more useful than the fixed length bungee with a ball or a hook at each end. You won't need a 100 of them on board like Mark.

So far the only place I have ever seen them sold is at BlueWater Yachts, the Seattle Mac dealer.

[Frank C]

OOPs - Sorry, I missed that link. The ball bungees are adjustable - shorten the cord by pulling it back thru the black ball, and the black ones in Moe's pix would work the same way. The ball bungees always seem to hold tight, for me. But the numerous other "adjustable length" bungees in stores don't work worth a d*mn, they always seem to slip.

I've never seen the specific Cinch-it design before. Guess it's worth a try, but I'd be hard-pressed to pay 2.50 for a bungee. BWY certainly isn't manufacturing those things, so who does and where else are they distributed?