Halyards
Be sure to check the jib halyard regularly, not something you would naturally do with a furling headsail, especially the one on the same side as the Spinnaker halyard sheaves (port on Sancerre) even if the spinnaker is not used. The first time I took the headsail off of Sancerre the outer cover of the halyard had been worn away over a considerable area and chafe was working on the core.
The problem was the top sheave for the spinnaker Halyard or it's fixing, originally the halyards would almost certainly have been wire which was the normal practice in the 70's on a boat of an size due to the stretch of fibre alternates.
Wire of course is much smaller than conventional fibre so would have cleared the sheave, I tried 8mm Dynema but that was also affected so I changed to a wire halyard (4mm 7 x 19 KOS Stainless Steel wire spliced to 8mm Liros Herkules, this wire has a manufacturers break load of 910 Kg) getting the spice done is not cheap but there is no stretch except in the tail which is minimal and it should last for years. If the local rigger does not do rope to wire splices check out Jimmy Green who can supply what is needed at a sensible price.
Halyard Diverters
The A9m with headsail furling needs a Halyard diverter of some sort, and I suspect the same is the case with the A840 and possibly the other Achilles types. Unfortunately whoever installed the original and replacement furling systems omitted to fit one. This was the result:
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| As noted above I have reverted to a wire genoa halyard because a rope one catches against the spinnaker sheave, the wire is thin enough to pass. |
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| A mast fit Halyard diverter by Selden. It is made of a soft metal so it wares out rather than the halyard. |
A halyard wrap is potentially a big problem with wire or fibre halyards as they jamb the system and it can be VERY difficult to get the headsail down, especially in a rising wind. I was lucky in that I was furling the sail due to light winds and could get the sail down after the halyard broke (I now have a halyard a foot shorter), also that the halyard, being deliberately of light gauge, did not damage the forestay. Why it decided to wrap and jamb on this occasion (towards the end of my 2020 ground GB trip) after thousands of miles sailing I am not certain but I probably had the halyard eased for better sail shape in a very light wind.
The diverter costs a few pounds and for one type a few rivets or self tapping screws, there are two general types, one fits on the mast below the halyard sheave and the other fits on the forestay deflecting the halyard to achieve the desired angle, see |
| A Forestay fit diverter by Plastimo. |
Both are easy to fit with the mast down, the mast type less so with the mast up but still only a 30-60 minute job for a rigger with the right tools.
Tracking down a wheel forestay type that could be fitted with the forestay in place was a challenge and I gave up and fitted the mast type which is in any case cheaper.
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