Kicker Strop
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I need to replace the wire strop around my mast bearing for the kicker.
Was thinking of replacing with some hi-tech rope, what would people reccomend?
Also do the ends need to be spliced to be strong enough or will a bowline suffice?Cheers
Adam
i have seen some boats just use normal rope but the hi tech rope. if it is the stuff thats is stronger then steel yeah go for it and bowlines i think should be fine i doesn’t make to much difference
What sort of rope do other people use?
Looking around at chandlery websites I think Marlow 4mm D12 should do the job quite nicely? or does it need to be 5mm? There is quite a difference in price though so dont really wont to over specify!on the other hand dont really want it breaking in the middle of a windy downwind leg!
some one at my club uses 5 mm rope its just rope to be honest. but there is a new type of rope out which has a higher load strength then steel wire. not sure of its name but i think it is dynema.
i think most people use dynema rope now at 5mm but not sure on that 4 mm might do the trick i use wire on my kicker just because it has never broken.
I use 5mm V12 on my Finn, with an adjustable splice(really easy even I can do it), the standard Needlespar shackles burst before the rope shows signs of distress, I managed that with a loud bang last Sunday. Hope that helps. Mike
adjustable splice
What is an adjustable splice, please Woody? I never heard of such a thing. I can see that being able to adjust the kicker strop would be mighty handy so knowing about this would be good!
DavePS 4mm Dyneema with bowlines for me. It’s lasted for years!
D12 & V12 Adjustable / Quick Splice
1.Multiply the diameter of the rope by 50 and mark this measurement from the end of the rope (Mark ‘A’). Leave a gap for twice the required eye size and make mark ‘B’.
2.Multiply the diameter of the rope by 25 and mark this measurement as ‘C’.
3.Insert a splicing needle up inside the main body of the rope at mark ‘C’ and push out at mark ‘B’.
4.Feed the tail of the rope through the eye of the needle.
5.Carefully pull the needle back down the rope until mark ‘A’ lines up with mark ‘B’.
6.Tie a knot in the tail end of the rope to stop the splice pulling through. To adjust either pull the knotted end or the eye whilst holding the rope between the two. For the quick splice, when adjustment is not required follow on from point 7 in D12/V12 and D2/V2 Uncovered Locking Eye Splice instructions to complete the splice.The above is from the Marlow splicing instructions, it doesn’t slip, I was shown it by a Dutch Finn sailor about 4 yrs ago and used it ever since, HIT masts have recently come supplied with something similar, but using rubbish rope! If you are cautious you can incease the length of the over lap, I do it to both ends of the strop to give maximum adjustment, this is helpful on a Finn where the purchases are such that the travel is small, so sometimes you need to alter length for the conditions or it is good to do it if you can do it easily which this system facilitates. Do you need it on an OK, I don’t know, but I should sometime next month when my boat arrives, I can’t wait!
MikeI’ve replaced mine recently and now wondering if my strop is too long.
Could someone please advise… when kicker is at it’s maximum – should the boom come down to the deck?
Only on reaches i have lots of twist with quite a lot of the lever on, suggesting my strop is too long, perhaps as the splices tightened up.
Graham
I use D12 on my kicker, but I use it doubled up with a bowline at each end. I then have a shroud adjuster on one side of the kicker lever to make fine adjustments, but have found that once the knots tightened up fully over the initial couple of sails, then I have not had to adjust it since, I have been using the same piece of rope for 2 years now. You need to be able to get the kicker tight enough to prevent twist in the leach in very strong winds, but the position in relation to the back deck is relevent to how much mast rake you are using and how soft your mast is. I would think that if you are needing to get the kicker lower than the back deck allows to prevent the leach twisting, then you may need to check the position of your mast.
Hope this helps NeilHi,
Yes that helps in some ways – thanks.
I guess my question is, how much twist is too much?! Only i have been having my kicker on almost full on a reach and not stalling the leech tell tails. I have heard that in strong winds – when you let the traveller off all the way and the next step is to ease main and use kicker… then surely you need the kicker on enough to keep the boom just above the back deck? This is where i got the idea from for the guidance.
When i sheet my main in strong winds, my boom sits just above the deck – so surely my kicker lever should be on full when the boom is at this angle in case i needed to ease the traveller off this far? Or does that not make sense?
Thanks,
Graham
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