Running Rigging Care: Inspecting Halyards, Sheets and Dyneema Lines

Walk the boat and write down each halyard, sheet and control line, what it's made of, its diameter and roughly when it was installed. Photograph labels if the original spool tag is gone. This list becomes your replacement plan and your shopping list.

Ease halyards, outhaul and vang, take sheets off the winches and pull control lines out of their clutches. For a halyard that runs inside the mast, tie a messenger line securely to the end (stitch it or tape it so it can't pull loose), then pull the halyard down and out so the messenger follows it through the mast. Now you can check the whole length, including the part that normally hides inside the mast or over the masthead sheave.

Slide each line slowly through your hands and look at it in good light. You are looking for:

• Chafe: fuzzy, furry or flattened patches, broken yarns, or the core showing through the cover
• Glazing: shiny, hard or stiff spots. Samson Rope says glossy or glazed areas and stiffness point to heat, grit or shock loading, and the rope may have lost strength.
• Diameter changes: a section that feels thinner, thicker, lumpy or flat compared with the rest
• Discoloration from chemicals, rust or heat Check the worst spot carefully: the strength of the whole line is only as good as its most damaged section.

UV slowly weakens fibers from the outside in. Signs include faded color compared with a protected part of the same line, a dry, crunchy or stiff feel, and a powdery surface. The cover on a high-tech line is there partly to shield the core from sun, so a sun-rotten cover means the core is next. Parts that live in the sun (the exposed end of a halyard, a furling line, a mainsheet left rigged) go first.

On double-braid line the cover can creep along the core. Signs: the cover bunches up or forms a loose wrinkled section, the core pokes out of the tail end, or the cover feels baggy and slides when you twist it. A cover that has slipped no longer shares the load properly and can jam in a clutch or a block. Small slip at a bitter end can sometimes be milked back and re-whipped; slip along the working part of the line is a reason to replace it or have a rigger look.

Look closely at the eye splices and shackle ends, which take the highest loads:

• Splices should be smooth and evenly tapered, with their lock stitching or whipping intact.
• Check shackles for cracks, a bent pin or a sticky spring plunger. Check soft shackles for fuzz and flattening. Good Old Boat suggests a single drop of light machine oil on a stiff snap shackle's spring mechanism, and no more: an over-oiled snap shackle can pop open.
• Black streaks running down from a sheave box or block mean metal is grinding away inside; rust streaks mean stainless is breaking down. Both deserve a closer look.
• Bitter ends should be whipped or sealed so they don't unravel. Samson Rope notes a properly made splice keeps the rope's full rated strength while a knot can reduce it a lot, which is why most halyards are spliced, not tied.

A worn spot always has a cause, and a new line will wear the same way if you don't fix it. Match each damaged spot to the place it sits when the sail is up or the sheet is trimmed:

• Masthead sheaves and exit boxes (use binoculars, or ask a rigger to go aloft)
• Spreaders, shrouds and lifelines a sheet rubs against
• Rope clutches, cam cleats and fairleads
• Turning blocks at the mast base and deck organizers

Cruising World points out that if you switch from wire to rope halyards, the masthead sheaves must be changed from V-shaped wire sheaves to U-shaped rope sheaves, and you should look for sharp edges aloft that could cut a new line.

Pull each line through its clutch and close the handle. It should grip firmly without the cover bunching. If a line creeps or slips under load:

• Check that the line diameter is within the clutch maker's rated range. A new, smaller or slicker line can slip in an old clutch.
• Look for worn, polished or chewed-up jaws and for grit or salt packed inside.
• Rinse clutches and cam cleats with fresh water and work them open and closed. A clutch that keeps slipping after cleaning, with a correctly sized line, usually needs new jaws or replacement.

A quick wear check from a Spinlock troubleshooting article: many common clutches use a ridged aluminum cam and base with a black anodized finish. Where the black has rubbed off to shiny, polished metal, the teeth are worn and grip less, and covers containing Technora or Kevlar wear them faster. Replacement cam kits (including ceramic-coated upgrades) exist for many models. The rope matters too: a plain polyester cover slips more easily than a blended high-tech cover, and a soft polyester core can flatten in the clutch until it is thinner than the clutch's minimum diameter.

Spin every block by hand. Sheaves should turn freely and quietly with no wobble or flat spots. Look for cracked cheeks, corroded or stretched shackles and worn swivels. Flush blocks with fresh water and a little mild soap, spinning the sheave as you rinse. Avoid heavy grease, which collects grit; follow the block maker's care advice for any lubricant.

Salt crystals and grit inside a rope act like sandpaper on the fibers. A soak and rinse once or twice a season helps. Based on Practical Sailor's rope-cleaning tests and the advice of the riggers they consulted:

• Whip or seal every end first so it can't unravel in the wash.
• Soak in a bucket of fresh water with mild soap, work the line with your hands, then rinse well. Normal hot tap water does not hurt nylon or polyester.
• Fabric softener at the label dose is fine; a heavy dose can keep the rope from drying fully.
• Never use bleach or acid cleaners, including vinegar. Bleach can also eat the stitching that locks a splice.
• Don't power wash a rope; high-pressure water can cut fibers and do damage you can't see.
• Dry by flaking the line loosely on a clean floor or hanging it loosely in the shade. Never use a clothes dryer or other heat.

If a halyard or sheet is worn only at the spot that sits in the clutch or over the sheave, you can swap it end-for-end so a fresh section takes the wear. Samson Rope suggests doing this at or near the midpoint of a line's expected life, not after it's badly worn. It only works if the line is long enough, both ends can take the shackle or splice, and the worn section ends up somewhere it does no work. A halyard with a spliced eye at one end will need a new splice, which is a rigger job for most owners.

Replace any line with core showing, glazed or melted spots, serious cover slip, a damaged splice or sun rot. When ordering:

• Match the diameter to your clutches, blocks and winch self-tailers. Sailing World advises checking each clutch's rated size before you buy.
• If you're upgrading from polyester to a high-tech core, make sure your deck hardware is rated for it. Lower-stretch line passes more of the load straight to the fittings.
• Reeve internal halyards with the messenger you left in the mast. Write the date, line and material in your BoatMend log.