Traveller rope

E

Eddie

New Member
What's best to use for the traveller rope? In my corner of the world the popular choice seems to be V12, But I was looking at the spec sheets from Marlow the other day and noticed that dynema has a hell of a lot less stretch, why don't we use that?
 
I pretty sure mine is 5mm vectran. Depending on your tiller though, it may saw through it eventually - not a good look on an expensive carbon tiller. Check to see what the dyneema/spectra is covered with as sometimes it's just polyester which fuzzes and wears pretty quickly.
 
Spec sheets are nice, but all that counts is real world use. What I've seen is that Vectran stretches less then Dyneema SK-75 (which is similar to Spectra 900/1000) which stretches less then Dyneema SK-60

Either creep is still an issue (they all say it's not) or the spec sheets are done at a loading % different from what happens in Laser traveller use. I've seen the same thing in halyard use on bigger boats.
 
I tried Vectran a few years back, but found that it was wearing quickly. It also doesn't give much of a warning - a little wear can actually be a lot of wear.

I've been using some Dyneema for the last couple years with minimal wear.

Friends have been using some more recent Vectran without issue, but I'm still wary.
 
Hi, With ANY KIND OF ROPE, you can use a bowline knot to obtain a first bight of rope going from the traveler eye to allmost the centerline. And whenever needed, shorten the bight by one inch. So the rudder wear will affect a new part of the rope. KISS. (Keep It Safe n Simple!)
 
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