I’m adding a spinnaker to my old Nacra 5.0. My mast came with the old style metal bale at top of the mast and a small hound 18 inches above that. The halyard would run up the mast, under the bale, through a block on the hound, back through the bale and angle down to the head of the spin. This is like the I-20 and N-500 manuals show.

However, I see most boats rigged using a short length of line around the mast as the “bale”. This line carries a block and that block also has a fixed length of line up to the masthead to carry the load.

If I stick with the metal bale I’m worried about abrasion of the halyard as it rides on the bale. I’m not racing and just want to get this thing on the water. Can I use the old style without fear of tearing up my halyard or should I switch out the metal bale for a line?