Whilst test sailing the boat I now own the jib halyard broke clean off. I think it might have been 16 years old. It was 8mm spectra i think but hard to tell as it was so sun bleached. It could have been younger.

I have heard though that there are boats with dyneema rigging >10 yo and its still fine.

My 18 year old spectra genoa halyard failed with no visible wear - near the halyard winch. (I was winding it in quite hard) Made me worried about all the halyards and so I replaced them all - I am not super worried about breaking a halyard when sailing but am mortified about them when scaling the mast on one. I tend to not use a safety line and so I like my halyards to be trusted. I know people do use second lines but my wife and I canyon and abseil and we do far more scary heights on single (or doubled over) lines so I like to be able to implicitly trust the rope. Still the load I put on a halyard is 87kg which is very low compared to the high load I can winch, but still, replace it anyway. If you can ask some friends to go in with you buy a reel from these guys.
www.sydneyropesupplies.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=66&products_id=509

I bought a reel of 12 mm, but it would have been better if a couple of friends did the same so we could swap colours.

garymalmgren said..
And here I was thinking off replacing my old wire to rope halyards with Spectra.
I will think twice now.

gary

mmmm...methinks me too

Dyneema has been tested after 11 years in the sun and broke within 10% of its original break strength.
Spectra is a different story though.
There are many different qualities going around, the brands with the white fluffy core are probably more susceptible to salt getting inside and causing internal chafe and some I have seen with joins in strands of the dyneema core.
The brands with the better quality cores should last as long as the cover.
Here's my tips to make your halyards last longer on cruising boats.
Firstly, don't splice. Use a halyard knot direct to the shackle. Splicing will only create more chafe where the splice is thick and stiff.
End for end your halyards regularly
If you buy a couple of meters extra, each time you cut off the halyard knot you will move the chafe points.
While end for ending, take the halyards home, put each in a pillow case and gentle wash with wool detergent.
If leaving the boat for a while, mouse all halyards out, no point taking life out of them when you're not using the boat for extended periods.
And finally, buy solid colours or colour with fleck, no white.
White polyester dies in the sun faster due to the UV beinh able to penetrate the white.

And for the questions about replacing wire halyards, do it!! I won't go aloft on a wire halyard!!

Thanks all , especially Rumblefish !! great advice ....

The reason I don't go aloft on wire rope halyards is the same reason I don't go aloft on 2:1 halyards....I'm trusting someone else's splice, plus the swage!

I guarantee race yachts use spectra (dyneema covered with pllyester) in Japan, but if it's hard to get there in sure some of the Oz manufacturers could send some @

hi everyone ,
who would you say is the best supplier for average punters like me to purchase good quality 10mm spectra by the metre in vic ?

SandS said..
key words being "purchase good quality 10mm spectra " Rumble has me concerned about quality issues after mentioning the join in the core he found. !!!

going aloft is bad enough for an old fat fruitcake without the added concern over possible chinese rope !!!

I just buy Australian made {Victoria} Spectra off eBay. It's always been good so far.

SandS said..
key words being "purchase good quality 10mm spectra " Rumble has me concerned about quality issues after mentioning the join in the core he found. !!!

going aloft is bad enough for an old fat fruitcake without the added concern over possible chinese rope !!!

There is no Chinese rope in any Chandlery I have seen except maybe the textec stuff from Whitworths.

You get what you pay for!
That is why the price varies so much with different brands

lydia said..
You get what you pay for!
That is why the price varies so much with different brands

If only that was the case ......unfortunately it aint ..

rumblefish said..

SandS said..

rumblefish said..

SandS said..
key words being "purchase good quality 10mm spectra " Rumble has me concerned about quality issues after mentioning the join in the core he found. !!!

going aloft is bad enough for an old fat fruitcake without the added concern over possible chinese rope !!!

There is no Chinese rope in any Chandlery I have seen except maybe the textec stuff from Whitworths.

.... which manufacturer do you recon is making the best Quality spectra ?

The best brands IMHO are the following;
Liros
Marlow
FSE
IRB (Oz made)

Then the cheaper ones that are ok but have the poorer cores
Whittams (oz made)
Donaghys

If I were rigging a race boat from scratch and wanted the best I would use the following...
Bare dyneema over 3mm- Hampdijan
Bare dyneema under 3mm (used for lashing) - Liros
Over 8mm spectra - IRB (use a Hampdijan core and can get any colors custom made)
Under 6mm spectra - Liros
And lines that need to be endless - Marlow do a great product for this
Dyneema chafe sleeve - Liros
Double Braid - Whittams
Whipping twine - Liros

On a cruising boat, whittams spectra is fine if you are simply knotting the ends.

thanks so much Rumble , I extremely appreciate and value your advice !!

Hi Wander, If you have concerns give Drew at wet teck a call . I bought the same product for my main halyard and found him extremely helpful.
As far as I am aware spectra/ dyneema does not degrade but is susceptible to abrasion over sharp edges.
I use it on my keel winch lifting 300kgs. 50% of time keel lifted 50% keel lowered in sea water . I renew every 18 months when antifoul done for convenience sake but the old one after a wash in fresh water looks as good as new ( almost).

SandS said..
hi everyone ,
who would you say is the best supplier for average punters like me to purchase good quality 10mm spectra by the metre in vic ?

boatropes.com.au/ is a very professional outfit.
skiffrope.com/ encyclopedic knowledge of rope and boats (might take a little longer than boat ropes)

Both these guys have a huge selection of most brands of rope, and both have splicing skill to be marveled at.