So, glorious spring day today. Brushed the cobwebs off the boat - I spent the autumn/winter series on a J/80 so it must be September since I sailed it last. Having a pleasant sail with another Stealth and a Dart 15 (mainly showing off to the sailing school Wayfarers with their brand new, first time out, beginners). And then I put the spinnaker up. Well, in actual fact, I put it about 2/3rds of the way up when something jammed. On inspection - the cover of the halyard had parted. So my next trip to the chandlers requires me to pick up 20m of suitable string - 5 or 6 mm double braid I guess. My question (finally) is this - do you think it's worth tapering the retrieval end of the halyard to reduce wear on the spinnaker? If so, how much cover would you suggest removing?

(Off to practice on what's left of my old one now - if I can find my fid anyway....).

Thanks

George