by Paul Fixx » Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:37 pm
The line holding my bow block broke this weekend just before the regatta in Newport when the main sheet wrapped around a cleat on my cradle. The line holding the block was 90 pound spiderwire. I use a 26mm spiral step down drum on a Smartwinch 280DL. The sheet was out on the 26mm section of the drum so I figure the winch could exert up to about 24 pounds of force. There was a 180 degree bend in the line through an eye made of very smooth, 3mm stainless steel and it had been in the boat about a year, so there was certianly some wear. I figure the bend reduced the line's strength by about half and the wear by maybe another half so 22 or so pounds of force to break it is probably about right.
I was thinking about replacing the line holding the bow block with something stronger, but I got to thinking what that would mean. As it was a 2 gram block went bouncing around in the hull. If that line hadn't broken, there are a lot worse things that might have. I figure what I used was about right.
By the way, I've removed everything on my cradle that could snag a sheet in the future.
-Paul Fixx