The usual cause of halyard twist - once new rope has settled down - is allowing the block(s) to swivel.  Yours are locked, aren't they?

Scott wrote:The small cracks in the plywood of the mast partners do not look so small anymore. I am trying to decide if this needs to be fixed right now before I use the rig or if this can wait until next winter for a repair.

To me it looks typical of what happens with fir plywood.  I would never leave it without putting a layer of glass over it, to ensure that it is fully protected by epoxy.  The dry areas on the glass will tell you where to go back and then, of course, you will put another coat or two on to fill the weave.  I wouldn't bother with double bias myself - I find it difficult to wrap around corners and I don't believe you are actually needing more strength: just better protection. 

I'd be inclined to take a heat gun to it, remove the paint (some of the epoxy will come with it).  This should show you if there's anything unpleasant going on, but I suspect all you will need to do is sand the shakes and maybe fill them.  Then I'd coat it, put the cloth on straight away and sqeegee the epoxy around to ensure there are no dry patches.  Ideally, the end result is matt, not shiny.  Another couple of coats and a slap of paint and that should be the end of it.

So now you have two different ideas!!

It has been a very slow start to the sailing season for me. My boat is still on the trailer at my house. Every time I think I am ready to launch something else comes up.

The small cracks in the plywood of the mast partners do not look so small anymore. I am trying to decide if this needs to be fixed right now before I use the rig or if this can wait until next winter for a repair.

I plan to sand, or grind or plane down the wood to remove the paint and then add 6 oz glass cloth and epoxy. Right now it it is plywood, un-thickened epoxy and paint. It seems like that is not good enough.

I am embarrassed to show my sloppy epoxy work and even worse paint job, but I could really use some advice.

Would anyone like to guess at how urgent this is?

Hi Scott

Monofilament rope (versus multifilament) is when the tiniest element or fibre in a thread is endless. This happens when it is extruded and then spun together with other elements. The resulting line and rope look quite shiny or ’silky’. Remember, each natural silk thread is also ‘extruded’ from the silk worm, so are just about monofilament.

You can have monofilament ropes, 3-strand or braided from any materiel, nylon, polyester or polypropylene, etc..

Multifilament threads are spun from shorter fibres, for instance wool, hemp or chopped up nylon-polyester-or-whatever.

Multifilament ropes, for instance on the outer layer of braided lines give better friction to the hand, so many prefer them. I on the other hand prefer halyards and sheets from monofilament (braided) rope because it stands up better to abrasion, so lasts longer. I compensate by using gloves, or my ‘Halyard Hauler’.

The fact that the rope is a bit slippery and resistant against chafe was my reason for trying it on my soft euphroe (polyester).

Good luck!

Arne

PS: I guess nylon should work. Mine was made of 8mm line, I think it was, but 10mm should also be fine.

I cut into the entire edge of the rudder with an oscillating multitool to inspect it. The top part of the rudder seems to be solid fiberglass. The crack running around the edge of this section was very much superficial. I think only the gelcoat cracked.

And the cracks in the lower part of the rudder were, I think, limited to some fairing material used to make the foil shape. The first 5mm or so were very soft before I hit a very solid material.

I filled the cut around the whole thing with thickened epoxy. Then I sanded. Then I filled again. Then I sanded again before finishing with several coats of topside paint and bottom paint.

I have more confidence in my rudder and I think it looks a little better than before.