"KLC Lewis" wrote in message
et...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
When I was racing on big boats (50+ ft) most of the sheets and guys
had wire tails. With wire a metal sheave is absolutely necessary.


Wire tails on sheets have to be hard on the hands. But you're right,
they'd destroy plastic in short order.



I remember long ago, when I re-rigged by Cal 20 it had sheaves specifically
for wire. I switched to spectra and switched the sheaves to Delrin, which I
took to be the standard. I recall there are also aluminim sheaves that
accept both line and wire. Delrins are injection molded, so I'd think that
there might be some inconsistencies in them from time to time. I believe the
GFN sheaves are also injection molded but stronger. Looks like there are
also Delrin GFNs... :-)

http://www.jacoproducts.com/materials/thermoplastic.htm

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com