Westerly Owners Association

Hi,

I was wondering if it was possible to access information that would have been used to rig a Corsair II in the factory? Basically I need to replace the main halyard and faced with a vast selection of products of varying price, design and elasticity/stretch I would like to know what loading capacity is actually needed. currently there is a 12mm diameter halyard but are modern ropes sufficiently strong enough to drop in size/use a cheaper product that has sufficient capabilities?

the same question could be (and will be) asked of all the rigging (standing and running).

so is there any document that would state the design parameters?

do I just replace the material like for like (irrespective of whether the previous owner may have up sized/down sized)?

obviously there are other factors that govern the required diameter such as jammers etc but knowing what performance is required would help decision making easier and potentially help my wallet too!!

I was (and still are) in the process of replacing all running and standing rigging on my Oceanranger.
For the running rigging it's really simple. A 12mm nylon halyard is quite big for the task. And as you want not much stretch for main and genoa halyard, you can easily go with a 10mm dyneema rope. It is strong enough and will outlast you. Just take care which type of halyard stoppers you use, Some have more wear on the ropes, some don't (or so the tests suggest).
For the standing rigging the task is a bit more tricky. I have talked with some riggers and the general consensus was something like: "never change a winning team!". Which means, the designers at Westerly did their allocation of parameters for a good reason. So if you change your 8mm upper shroud for a 10mm shroud, it wont do you any good, as the stronger shroud doesn't fit the overall parameters for strain, stiffness of the hull, etc. So leave it at 8mm. My advice would be to replace the old parts of the standing rigging with new parts of exactly the same mechanical properties.

I hope this helps and wasn't too confusing.
Best regards

Wolfgang wrote:A 12mm nylon halyard is quite big for the task. And as you want not much stretch for main and genoa halyard, you can easily go with a 10mm dyneema rope. It is strong enough and will outlast you.

I doubt if Westerly used nylon halyards as they would stretch too much, probably they used pre-stretched terylene or polyester. This could be changed to Dyneema with a polyester cover and should allow you to drop a size down. Best to ask the supplier for their advice.

Jolly Roger wrote:probably they used pre-stretched terylene or polyester.

Polyester or whatever is used for "conventional" cruising ropes without Dyneeme core, is what I meant

XW Rigging have all the original specs, sizes, and colours for Westerlys. They will also provide/suggest 'cruising dyneema' for the main, at 10 rather than 12mm.

Many thanks for the comments, much appreciated!

It might be worth bearing in mind that the thicker rope is easier on the hands. Depends how hard your hands are, or how hard you want them to become!