Does anyone have any tips for replacement of a main halyard. I have a Chipstow mast with a halyard lock system. The halyard is the wire type with a shackle at one end and a wire loop at the other which then has a rope spliced to it. I tried today to re-thread it by connecting a guide rope to the rope end that comes out of the lower end of the mast and then passing it up the mast so that it would come out of the top so that I can then pass the new one back down in reverse (as the shackle obviously won't pass through from the top down). I removed the pulley wheel at the top of the mast so I had a bit more room to play with. Despite a far amount of twisting, wiggling and swearing I could not get the old halyard out. The wire loop end which has the spliced rope connected would not pass the halyard lock. I tried taping it up to make it narrower but all to no avail. I find it hard to believe that the only way to re-thread a new halyard is to remove the entire lock system? If that is the case I probably won't replace it, but so far the halyard lock seems a good system when it works (although I know there are a lot of views on this!). Has anyone got any tips please as I'm sure I'm not the first this has happened to? Thanks, Paul

Pop the plastic cover off.
 
 Once its off its easy, in fact i'd leave it off for ease of access in future. There's no need to remove the lock itself
 
 

Paul
 
You don't have to take the cover off. The problem is that the tail on the old halyard will be too thick to run through the halyard lock. The solution is to pull the old halyard through so the wire exits the mast at the bottom in the usual way, take off the old tail and replace it it with twine that is thin enough to go through the halyard lock (but thick enough not to break). Then pull the halyard out of the top of the mast - the tail will now run through the halyard lock. Attach the new wire halyard to the twine and pull it back through the mast and when the new halyard exists the mast at the foot, attach the tail. Job done.
 
will 

 thanks for the advice. I'll give it a try. Regards, Paul