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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

Jib sheet preferences?

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RandyAmy
1st Mate

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USA
40 Posts

Initially Posted - 01/14/2019 : 05:13:16

Looking to replace my jib sheets this winter. I see great reviews for NE Ropes, Regatta. I was hoping to go with red and green for the sheets, but it looks like the Regatta is only available in White/red tracer. I may have to dump the color preference for the Regatta because it seems to get great reviews. I see WM has a 24 hr sale going on today so it may be time to order.Anyone have preferences on line that is available in colors?

Randy Clason

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5882 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 07:37:04

My advice is buy it while it's on sale. Color is purely aesthetic. If I can't get the color I want, I buy the color they have, or order it if the sale price is still available.

Functionally, I buy high tech line for racing and Sta Set or similar low price line for cruising, daysailing and casual racing. Expensive line isn't necessary for general purposes, but it's worth the extra cost for serious racing.

Now hurry up and get to WM before the sale is over!

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

islander
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
4012 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 07:48:46

Regatta is what I use. Soft, Doesn't kink, easy on the hands and grips the winch well. Look at it at the store and you will see what I mean. I don't notice any stretch.

Scott-"IMPULSE"87'C25/SR/WK/Din.#5688
Sailing out of Glen Cove,L.I Sound

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9047 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 08:02:45

I've been plugging Regatta here for years... The places where color coding can be useful is for the numerous lines that come from the mast on many boats--halyards, vang, cunningham, down-haul, reefing lines, topping lift,....... Jib sheets are clearly what they are and stay oriented around the winches--I'd say red-green coding there is cute, but that's about it unless you have a cutter rig or some other headsail. "Function over form": Regatta polyester single braid (not the polypropylene). You'll like it.

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 01/14/2019 08:07:12

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5882 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 08:19:38

I very much prefer using gummed labels to identify the various lines. Color coding helps you identify them, but printed labels help your crew. They can look at the labels and identify the lines without having to ask you.

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9047 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 10:40:41

BTW, I've gotten nothing from N.E.Ropes... Nada. Zilch.

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5882 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 12:15:40

Hrummpf! It seems like they could at least send you a free set of dock lines for an endorsement from a Master Marine Consultant. Hey Dave, maybe you could start charging our members for your advice!

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

Lee Panza
Captain

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USA
465 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 13:18:41

Regatta is certainly pleasant to use, although I switched to Samson Trophy Braid and I like it just as much.

One difference I noted is that with the Regatta I needed one size larger than Catalina spec'd so it would hold well in my self-tailing winches. The single-braid Regatta flattens-out easily instead of maintaining the round profile of the Trophy. This isn't really an issue for a cruiser or daysailor, in fact some people prefer the larger size for comfort in the hands anyway. But 7/16" Regatta is about 75% heavier than 3/8" Trophy (3/8" Regatta is only about 11% heavier than the same size Trophy).

Regarding the colors, I have found the red/green combo very helpful when the cockpit sole accumulates a jumble of excess rope. This isn't an issue when I'm out in light breezes, but in the typical 20-25 kn summer winds on SF Bay (gusty, rather than relatively steady) the excess of both sheets slides off the cockpit benches in one pile on the sole that I'm frequently trying to keep somewhat sorted out. The different colors is very helpful in this. BTW, I mostly single-hand or with a non-sailor, but keeping things sorted out would certainly be easier with experienced crew.

Note also, before buying new headsail sheets, that Catalina specs a single 75' length for genoa sheets (65' for jib sheets). I presume they intended that a single line be knotted at the center and be semi-permanently deployed. I use twin 40' sheets, which leaves a little excess even with the genoa poled-out on a long run or broad reach.

The trouble with a destination - any destination, really - is that it interrupts The Journey.

Lee Panza
SR/SK #2134
San Francisco Bay
(Brisbane, CA)

sethp001
Mainsheet C-25 Tech Editor

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814 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 15:06:21

I've been happy with Novabraid XLE for sheets. It's less expensive than New England. I've been getting good deals on it from some dude selling on Amazon.

http://www.novabraid.com/rope/xle-performer/

Seth
"Outlier" 1987 Catalina 25 SR/SK/Traditional Interior #5541
"Zoo" 1977 Morgan Out Island 30
"Nomad" 1980 Prindle 16
"Lost" 1988 Catalina Capri 14.2 (sold - yay!)
"Marine Tex 1" Unknown Origin POS 8' Fiberglass Dinghy
https://whichsailboat.com/2014/07/27/catalina-25-review/

Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9047 Posts

Response Posted - 01/14/2019 : 15:11:02

quote:
Originally posted by Steve Milby

Hey Dave, maybe you could start charging our members for your advice!

No, I'm more comfortable with the "ad" business model than the "fee" model. And if I charge, then after the refunds for when I'm wrong, I'll be broke!

Dave Bristle
Association "Port Captain" for Mystic/Stonington CT
PO of 1985 C-25 SR/FK #5032 Passage, USCG "sixpack" (expired),
Now on Eastern 27 $+!nkp*+ Sarge

hbushey
1st Mate

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USA
29 Posts

Response Posted - 01/16/2019 : 23:54:05

When we replaced all the standing and running rigging on Respite, we used Sta-Set for the main and jib sheets.

Hockled horribly. It was so bad, I�m going to replace it all with something else.

We went with New England VPC Hybrid for the halyards, and it�s been great line, but not exactly cheap either. Almost zero stretch, easy to coil, and relatively soft on the hands.

Heather and Scott
�Respite�
1989 C-25 TR/WK

Lee Panza
Captain

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USA
465 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2019 : 14:14:12

VPC is great for lines like halyards, dock lines, or even topping lifts, where strength, low stretch, and economy are important. 3/8" weighs 3.9 lbs. per 100 ft., so the weight aloft when used as a halyard or topping lift is reasonable, but its rated tensile strength - when new - is given as 6500 lbs. (allowing a safety factor of 5 gives a Safe Working Load of 1300 lbs., which is far in excess of the maximum load one might ever apply to a halyard or a topping lift on a Catalina 25). Even 5/16" would have a SWL of 1,100 lbs., and I doubt that most of us would want anything smaller in lines we sometimes need to haul by hand under load. At 10% of tensile strength (650 lbs) it only stretches around 1.3 percent. It is relatively strong, non-stretchy, and relatively economical (compared to the high-end ropes used by grand prix racers).

The polyester cover resists wear and UV about like Sta-Set, and the rope has a similar stiffness. It seems to me that wear, UV resistance, and handling characteristics are far more important than stretch resistance in headsail sheets. If anything, I'd think it would be advantageous to allow some stretch to absorb shock loadings from sudden gusts; if one type of rope stretches more than another, it just means a fraction of a turn more on the winch for the same degree of tension in the sail. Once it's set this is no longer an issue, but fluctuating wind loading is. Not only does the additional stretch allow the sail to twist off a bit instead of increasing the boat's heel, but it also absorbs stress that would otherwise be fully imposed on the sail. I'd rather replace sheets periodically than a sail.

This having been said, the same respective figures for Trophy Braid, in 3/8", are 3,000 lbs strength and 3.1% stretch at 600 lbs.; the weight is 3.6 lbs per 100 ft. More important than those factors, in my opinion, is that the Trophy Braid is much more comfortable in the hands, and it seems to me (subjectively) to be a little more supple - especially when new. I have self-tailing winches, which I consider indispensable, but when I'm single-handing in strong, gusty conditions I hold the jib sheets in my hand in order to ease them quickly every time a strong gust comes through (like the storm that blew into SF Bay a couple of days ago - it was getting pretty wild by the time I was heading for the marina in the evening). The numbers - for stretch and tensile strength in the lines we use as headsail sheets on a Catalina 25 - don't matter much anymore at times like that. And, frankly, for casual daysailing they don't matter at all.

The trouble with a destination - any destination, really - is that it interrupts The Journey.

Lee Panza
SR/SK #2134
San Francisco Bay
(Brisbane, CA)

Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5882 Posts

Response Posted - 01/18/2019 : 14:37:03

Hockles happen mostly because there's twist in the lines from coiling them incorrectly. Here's a link to a video that shows how to coil a line so that it will run through blocks without hockling. I coiled mine incorrectly for many years before I learned this. In fact, when I started sailing, the experts taught us to do it the wrong way. I guess they didn't know better "back in the day."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX4Zr0vdGHE

Steve Milby J/24 "Captiva Wind"
previously C&C 35, Cal 25, C25 TR/FK, C22
Past Commodore

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