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I recently purchased a '94 Macgregor 26s, and judging by the condition of other rigging, I would not be surprised if the main and jib halyards were original equipment. Sidenote: I have recently replaced the mainsail and jib.

I recently installed a snubbing winch so I could get the halyard nice and tight, but usually find about an hour into a good sail that the luff of the sail has gone a bit slack. I was out recently and had a friend at the tiller, so had him come up to the wind briefly so I could tighten it, but after another hour of sailing, it appeared to have loosened up.

The halyard makes off to a standard cleat. I do a full loop around the base of the cleat before finishing in the standard figure-8, being sure to do it properly, so I'm pretty sure the rope is not slipping at the cleat.

Are older ropes more prone to stretching? Will I get less of this if I replace it with a new rope (assuming, of course, I buy the proper kind of rope)?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice!

I'd plan on replacing it. Blue Water Yachts has it for $43.56. http://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/l204-100.htm When I replaced a bunch of line on my West Marine was having a 30% or 40% off sale. BWY's price was still a little better and I like supporting them!

Jeff

Replace your halyard. I suspect the portion where it has been snubbed so many times is worn. Do yourself a favour and treat yourself to some other new lines also. They just work so well. I have found lots of uses for retired lines!
Take care.
Just here waiting’ for softer water!

Stickinthemud57,

You say you have a new Jib and main. How new? New sails also stretch. That being the case, it may not be the halyard.

When I bought a new Genoa, I had to lengthen the halyard until the sail stretched.

You could mark your halyard at the cleat after you tie it off to confirm whether the line is slipping or stretching. That said, I tend to lean towards replacement on running rigging. Gives you a chance to practice finishing lines

And to confirm the cleat hitch is tied properly:



--john

It's possible the previous owner used nylon for a halyard instead of non-stretch polyester.

If it looks to be in decent shape, I would try the suggestions above before replacing it. However, new halyards are not expensive. I'm considering replacing mine with a length long enough to make a loop and possibly a color so I can tell the crew "release the black line". It's so hard to explain which one is the halyard.