I agree with everything Rick says about New England Salsa. I just wish they made it in reasonable colors. I bought a piece to try out as a jib sheet, and although it performed well, the color scheme made it difficult to use. Whenever the ends of the sheets wound up on top of each other, I couldn't tell which line was which. Grabbing and pulling the wrong line to uncleat the jib makes for slow tacks. I wound up taking it off after only one day.

I don't believe that tapered sheets and halyards make my boat any faster (I'm not sailing at that level), but they are cool. For tapered sheets, I like to re-core Samson Trophy Braid with Samson Amsteel Blue. Trophy Braid is soft, fuzzy, easy to grip, cleats well, comes in a good variety of colors, and is relatively inexpensive. Amsteel Blue is strong, light, low-stretch, doesn't absorb water, comes in a good variety of colors, and isn't too expensive.

Regards,
Eric