i always have strands of cassette tape on my spin bridal wires... they last about a month before all the color works off and they are then clear and worthless... so i would probably not suggest vhs tape (assuming it is similar material to old cassette tape) on your main as you will need to change it out often.

Not sure about vinyl but i would recommend nylon (spin material) as this will last for years. I recently had work done on my light air mains and JSI put real thick (wide) tell-tales on the sail. They are very loud (relatively) but i love them.

I will guess they are 8" long and 1.5 wide

PS Don't foget Rick claims that somehow ABBA 8track is the fastest tape out there!..