Hi all,

Have not asked any questions for a long time now! Just about to put MR 1137 back on the water,

want to re rope the kicker, outhall and cunningham (the only control lines I am good enough to need!) Have searched through the old posts on this forum, but cant find what I am looking for.

What size/sort of line would you recommend. I was thinking of using marlow excel pro 4mm for in the cleats and 3mm for all the parts which dont need handling?

Any suggestions, bear in mind I cannot afford too much and am a relativley novice helm who will be getting to grips with the boat on a club level not at open meetings.

Thanks

Adam

The outhaul and cunningham can be low tech rope if you want as a bit of stretch isn't a problem, 4mm prestretched poly is about right, but there is usually a cascade on the outhaul and the 1st purchase should be something a bit stronger e.g. 4mm Dyneema core.  The kicker needs a bit more spent on it.  I have a cascade with Vectran in the 1st and 2nd parts then 5mm Excel Racing (?) whichever one has the Dyneema core on the last bit.  Cascades give you most mechanical advantage for the fewest blocks and least friction but need careful setting up to get the travel right and the 1st purchase and block have to handle a high load.  A few boats of your vintage still have a kicker on a drum winch at the foot of the Proctor D mast - what are you using?

Andrew 3511

Hi Adam, suggest either Marlow excel racing (less Stretch) or excel pro 4mm.  You could try FSB Dinghy control lines great core and a bit cheaper.

Hi,

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

My Kicker is a metal lever arm style, i think gives about 8:1 purchase (from measuring the lever arm distances). I was thinking of replacing it with a cascade type system, but I need to spend money elsewhere on the project at the moment. For example there is only a 1:1 system on the jib with a simple halyard rack so this needs changing before I can get any effective rig tension and even try to set the mast up correctly. The boat is a project which I am hopin to spend a bit of time and money on getting the rig and rigging correct over the coming and possibly next season.

My Boom unfortunately has no internal outhall rigging so the line simply runs through the boom to the gooseneck end where it drops into the boat, so any purchase I put on it has to be done there, I was thinking a 4:1 total purchase.

Thanks 

Adam

Keep your lever for now and use the money elsewhere!  As long as it is set up right it has a number of advantages including low friction and being cheap but your crew may not love you for it as it is not the easiest thing to get past on a tack especially in a narrow boat.  If you have  a long piece of string from the tack end of the boom without a purchase in it this needs low stretch.  If you have a Highfield lever on the jib you can get adequate tension on it for the style of rig.  Your jib halyard tension is dependent on tension in the mainsheet - look at the articles on the site about travellers and what not to do with the rig of an older boat.

With regard to re-roping on a budget, you could do worse than look up your nearest boat jumble. They often have good suppliers of high quality rope in "bundles" if you know what you are looking for. I would suggest you do not go for the cheap rope of unknown origin. The link to the boat jumble association is below and I'll post a second link straight afterwards.

The rope company in the link below is sometimes at the boatjumbles and they know their stuff. You can see what they do on their website. In the past I have asked them to bring stuff like Vectran specially for me to a boatjumble. They are not the only sources by any means.

Jimmy Green Marine from Beer also do most of the boat jumbles and have good lengths of branded ropes at cheap prices. You can check their website for what they stock.

Adam, re the kicker lever. If you haven't already done it your crew will thank you for turning it around so that rather than it hanging down below the kicker it points up. You can attach a small length of loose bungee from the end of it to the bottom of the boom somewhere to keep it pointing upwards when it's loose... Remember the bungee has to be loose enough not to restrict the movement of the lever...
Happy to help regarding the different types of string available as well if needed although it seems there's plenty of expertise on the forum!!!

Best of luck