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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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spectra for pendant?

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CatalinaGuy
1st Mate

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USA
55 Posts

Initially Posted - 11/17/2003 : 14:18:55

I'm upgrading my worn out CDI with a new Harken furler.(BTW, the engineering of the Harken unit is awesome!) Since my headsail luff is a bit shorter than the top fitting on the furler, Harken instructions tell me I need to make a pendant to attach the head of the sail to the furler top fitting. They specify plastic coated wire, which would need to be custom made. I was wondering if I could use say 1/4" spectra line with two bowlines instead. Any thoughts?

Doug Hibberd, 'Shiraz'
C25 SK/SR 1983
Austin, TX

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Frank Hopper
Past Commodore

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Pitcairn Island
6776 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2003 : 14:24:54

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by CatalinaGuy
 I'm upgrading my worn out CDI with a new Harken furler.(BTW, the engineering of the Harken unit is awesome!) Since my headsail luff is a bit shorter than the top fitting on the furler, Harken instructions tell me I need to make a pendant to attach the head of the sail to the furler top fitting. They specify plastic coated wire, which would need to be custom made. I was wondering if I could use say 1/4" spectra line with two bowlines instead. Any thoughts?
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Couldn't hurt to try. In Austin you have a lot of options to have a custom pendant made. It should be like $10-$30. You might even be able to make it up at Home Depot.

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Leon Sisson
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1893 Posts

Response Posted - 11/17/2003 : 16:38:53

Doug,

You might want to research whether Spectra line is badly weakened by conventional knots or tight radius bends. I'm fairly sure it requires a different splicing technique than regular polyester double braid because of the core orientation and material.

If you want to use fiber rope, I'd be tempted to just go with regular polyester double braid, either knotted or spliced. (That's what I use.) I don't think the difference in stretch between Spectra and polyester over a distance the length of a short pendant is going to adversely affect luff tension enough to be concerned about. If you are concerned, you could just use thicker line to reduce stretch.

If you prefer wire, it would be fairly easy to make up a pendant using Nicopress sleeves and stainless steel thimbles. (That's what I used on my previous boat.) Many stores that sell the wire and sleeves have a Nicopress crimper available for use in the store.

-- Leon Sisson

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