Ok men, more advice needed to keep Flight Risk operating. This boat has a 36'wing mast that uses a 5/16" V100 (vectran core) halyard that enters the mast at the head, and exits the base of the mast thu an Easylock Mini (never heard of this brand) rope clutch, then to a Schaefer Series 3 fairlead blk on hinged base plate, which allows raising the main by pulling the hlyd upwards from the base while feeding the slugs into the track. The clutch not only secures the hldy with the main full hoisted, but also holds the hlyd each time I insert another slug. But this sucker is chewing up my $100 hlyds with too great a frequency, 3 times in the last 4 yrs. The clutch is always under load with the same section of line in its grippers, the mainsail fully hoisted( I guess I could cut of 6" at the shackle regularly), and it finally chews thru the cover, allowing the main to drop 6" before it sort grabs the core. The hlyd is then wasted, and I never see the wear area because it immediately enters the mast when it exits the clutch as the main is lowered.
So one thought is to blow off the clutch entirely and install a horn cleat. All the tensioning is done with the dnhl. But this solution has me holding the full weight of the main as I raise it, which is pretty substantial with this sail. And I'm rasing it solo most of the time.
Another avenue is to replace the clutch with something else, based on someone's reccomendation. Hopefully clutch technology has improved since this one was designed. But an issue there is the mounting hole dimensions. These are 3.5" on center(the body is 4.5" overall), and the nuts are buried deep within the mast base, and I'm doubtful of the holding power of the mast for lag bolts or drill and tap. So I need a quality piece of equipment that matches my mounting holes. Big request?
Are there other lines for this application that might have a tougher cover or a better bond between the cover and the core? Are there problems with V100, or is it the clutch that's the culprit? Seems like the cover was pretty loaded when it gave way, there was a noticable bang when she let loose.
Thank you gentlemen!

Dave