I am planning to replace Strong Arm keel wire on my 285 this winter.

Can anyone give me advice as how to do this safely and successfully?

What position does the keel have to be in? and presumably it has to be supported whilst changing wires?

Does Bill Parker have an opinion on the ' Dyneema' subtitute?

must phone him

grateful for your comments

regards
charles

charles clements

Spartacus 285

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I have done it several ways but the easiest is to sit on the bottom with the keel up so you have access to all the bits you need to get at with no fear of dropping the keel. 6mm wire is very tough stuff to deal with when bent so tightly as it is on the Strongarm winch and if you have broken strands it can be very vicious to the hands. Very messy too with grease which likes to flick everywhere. Dyneema is just so easy and clean to use. I tie it to the shackle on the keel end using a fishermans bend with a short tail and a figure eight so I can see if there is any creep on the dyneema over time. I have had no creep at all. I use a clove hitch around the winch for security and fix the bitter end into the clamp the old wire was in. I have no noticable wear other than a nick in the outer sheath that I did on first operation. Very annoying but it does not affect the strength of the Dyneema. I have been checking it every couple of months or so and carry a spare length just in case. I operate the keel up and down every time I sail which is most weekends and there is usually several ups and downs over the sands each trip so it's been well exercised.

My personal opinion is I would not change the wire if it is in good condition. ie. not too many broken strands. 6mm SS wire gives a safety margin on strength of over 5 to 1 for the keel weight so you can lose a few strands with little risk. 8mm Dyneema is stronger than 6mm SS wire so it has an even higher safety margin.

Having used Dyneema and proved to myself how good it is I would not go back to wire.

Hope it helps.

John Williams
275/60 CRYSTAL

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hi john
i will inspect the wire before proceeding.
may use the dyneema option.
just two points of clarification just to make sure i understand.

the figure of eight is put in the short tail of the fishermans bend?

the clove hitch is round the DRUM of the winch before the bitter end goes into the clamp?

am i correct
also is the length needed about 14 feet?

thanks
regards
charles

charles clements

Spartacus 285

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Charles

Thats it. The clove hitch causes a bit of a hump on the winch but I feel happier that it is well secured. I tried it without the clove hitch and it looked and seemed to work fine as there is plenty of rope on the winch before the load comes on. I just feel happier with the clove hitch there. There is not enough room for a figure eight knot at the clamp end as a safety stop. I buy a 4m length of 8mm Dyneema and it does the job. It's that easy to do you can do it anytime. The longest part of the job is cleaning the grease off. I used the fishermans bend is very simple and strong with no sharp kinks in it. The figure eight is in the short tail and doesn't do anything. It's a safety measure. I will take a photo next time I have a look.

John Williams
275/60 CRYSTAL

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hi john

thanks for your help
i used to change the keel rope on the 235 so once i open it all up should ,as you say, be straightforward

regards
charles

charles clements

Spartacus 285

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Thanks John I'm going to do this as well this winter. I didn't want to be the guinea pig!

Kate

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