Selden Halyards for Hydraulic/Mechanical Tensioners — Instructions
How Selden wire halyards for hydraulic or mechanical halyard tensioners are built, used and marked to length on a stepped mast (two methods).
Halyards for Hydraulic/Mechanical Tensioners
Wire halyard with a detachable rope tail. The wire has a shackle/snap shackle at one end for the sail or halyard swivel and an eye terminal at the other for the tensioner, plus a Talurit ferrule that seats in the halyard lock. The rope tail joins the wire with a "rapid link" and has a whipped messenger eye and an identification label, so the right tail goes back on the right halyard and is not cut or used elsewhere.
- Use: hoist until the Talurit sits in the seat of the halyard lock, detach the tail, connect the eye terminal to the tensioner and apply halyard tension with the tensioner. Do not adjust tension when the sail is reefed or furled.
- Length is critical and depends on the sail luff. Selden supplies the halyard overlength with the Talurit loose and a temporary eye terminal, fitted to the mast; it is finished after marking.
Standard Method (Ordinary Halyard)
After the mast is stepped:
- Tension the sail-carrying stay to 15-20% of its breaking load (suitable cruising tension).
- Extend the tensioner to max. length minus 50mm.
- Hoist the sail and tension the rope tail by hand or light winch power.
- Mark the wire at the centre of the terminal hole at the tensioner pin (A) and at the top of the Talurit at the lower edge of the halyard lock (B).
- Fit a messenger to the eye of the tail (length = deck to halyard exit sheave).
- Lower the sail and pull the halyard out until the wire can be detached at the rapid link. Old sheave boxes or masthead sheaves may need removing to pass the terminal.
- Swage the Talurit and permanent eye terminal at the marks and reinstall the halyard.
Alternative Method (Spare Halyard)
If the mast has only messengers, measure with a standard wire-to-rope spare halyard of the same wire diameter (one size smaller is acceptable), then transfer the marks:
- Fit the auxiliary halyard with the messenger.
- Tension the sail-carrying stay to 15-20% of its breaking load.
- Extend the tensioner to max. length minus 50mm.
- Hoist the sail and tension the rope tail.
- Mark the wire at A (tensioner pin) and B (top of Talurit at the halyard lock); keep markings for different sails clearly separate.
- Lower the sail, remove the auxiliary halyard and secure the messenger.
- Repeat for the other sails as required.
- Transfer the marks to the ordinary halyards, swage Talurit and permanent eyes, and install them in the mast.
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