16 Sep Why We Chose Marlow Ropes to Rig Our Sailboat

Running rigging is perhaps just as important to a sailboat as its sails. When sailing offshore it is the connection between the boat and the sails, controlling sail trim and shape, putting the power of the wind into the boat itself. In case you missed the videos, we will catch you up now. While in Chile, and before leaving to cross the South Pacific Ocean, we re-fit our boat with new running rigging from Marlow Ropes to replace the lines we had worn out, many of which were over 20 years old and original to the boat. 

Why Marlow?

On a boat the size of ours, the J/46, the loads are big, especially in heavy air. With only two people aboard, it is critical that we don’t have failures in halyards or sheets and possibly loose control of our sails which would cause damage to the boat, or even to people or pets. We have seen this happen: a broken sheet causing a flogging headsail or swinging boom can be extremely dangerous, and a broken halyard can be impossible to fix at sea leaving you down a sail for hundreds or thousands of miles when you really need it most. We want to go fast, and performance is important to us, but hands down, safety offshore is always #1.

The importance of the running rigging makes us choose our suppliers carefully. Marlow was the only rope company we reached out to as a sponsor, if that tells you something. We choose the items we purchase or use on our boat very carefully. When it comes to recommending products to our viewers and followers, we will only promote products we would actually choose to purchase and use ourselves aboard Sweet Ruca.

It is important when trusting your life to a rope that you know its origin and quality. Marlow Ropes is perhaps some of the best quality rope on the planet. Marlow’s manufacturing is top notch and meets or exceeds international standards, including CE, cordage institute standards, DEFCON’s, MIL specs, ANSI, NFPA and many others. It is depended on not only by some of the worlds best round the world racing teams but also by climbers, militaries, and those that work at terrifying heights (think rappelling from helicopters or dangling from a giant windmill).

Why Dyneema?

Many cruisers’ first thought about Dyneema is that it is just for racers. We disagree with that and believe that the benefits to racers of high strength, low stretch and creep translate to making our cruising experience better. Stretch and strength aren’t the only benefits though. Dyneema has excellent resistance to chemicals, it is lighter than polyester double braids, and is highly resistant to UV. This all translates to the lines on our sailboat lasting longer.

Aside from the obvious performance improvements of lighter weight and lower stretch, Dyneema offers another huge benefit aboard our boat. Its higher strength allows us to choose a smaller diameter for many of our control lines. This translates to lines that fit better into our winches, allow more wraps on a winch, and run more easily through our blocks. This makes hoisting, dropping, and trimming sails easier, safer, and faster.

Working with Dyneema lines is also incredibly easy. Have you ever tried to splice a double braid polyester line with a cover? It is not fun! Dyneema is very easy to splice, in some cases it is faster to splice a line than it is to tie a knot in it. This cuts down on rigging time and cost, increases the line strength vs knots, and in an emergency one can use Dyneema to replace steel wire rigging. We carry some spare Dyneema which can replace our standing rigging in this way. By the way, you can find complete instructions and videos showing how to splice all of Marlow’s lines by clicking here.

Because the lines are lighter and smaller, this also translates to less weight aloft and less windage. These benefits are often overlooked on cruising sailboats. Our thoughts on this, which have been cemented from our racing experience, is that every little bit counts. When sailing 30,000 or more incremental gains add up. The low stretch and creep of the lines also leads to less trimming and less heeling. Less movement of the lines contributes to lowering chafe, the enemy of an offshore sailboat. Less stretch means that sail shape stays more consistent, especially in big breeze when this matters most to keep the helm neutral and the boat flat and fast. Less trimming means more sleep and more time to focus on other important things such as weather routing, cooking, etc. Racing aside, the simple cruisers takeaway: increased safety, leisure time, and sailing enjoyment!

BLUE OCEAN & Sustainability Initiatives

Another reason we chose Marlow, and perhaps one of the biggest reasons, is their environmental initiatives. As sailors we feel a responsibility to leave as little wake as possible when it comes to the environment. Now, let’s be realistic, we are sailing a fiberglass boat, with a diesel engine, and composite sails made of carbon fiber and mylar film. We aren’t going to lie to ourselves and imagine because we use mostly solar and wind power on our journey that we are somehow fossil or carbon free. It is almost impossible for anyone to live day to day nowadays without using some oil based products, and we wouldn’t have the amazing civilization and quality of life without these products. However, we want to improve where we can, by making good choices.

That is where Marlow’s Blue Ocean and bio-based Dyneema initiatives come in. Like saving weight aloft, if we all can make small incremental improvements it is good for the planet. As a rope-maker, Marlow recognizes that our activities will have an effect on both the local and global environment and they are committed to ensuring that the negative effect is minimized as far as is practical. Since 2018, they have been developing products using sustainably sourced fibers in all of their standard synthetic rope ranges.  Most significantly Marlow is reducing reliance on fossil fuels by using fibers either manufactured from waste plastic or natural sources in the lines they manufacture for sailing yachts. We think this is a great thing!

A 5000 Mile Test!

We put our Marlow Ropes and new running rigging to the test when crossing the South Pacific Ocean. We have sailed well over 5,000 nautical miles so far and our lines are holding up brilliantly. We have noticed all of the benefits listed above. We also learned something new, which is yet another benefit to cruisers, the boat is quieter offshore. Once set in place, there is little movement that contributes to creaks and groans in the rigging. It is rock solid!

We noticed a few other things about these lines. First, how nice the covers felt in our hands. Most of the time we don’t wear gloves when sailing, so the “hand” or feel and grip of the lines cover is very important to us. Next, the wear and chafe resistance of the covers has been phenomenal, as is the grip on our winches. Last, the twists and hockles of our old lines are gone. We can have confidence that when we let our lines run that they won’t jam in our blocks, yet another thing that adds to safety and sailing enjoyment.

Overall, we couldn’t be happier with our choice of Marlow Dyneema lines for our running rigging. The handling, strength, and durability are top notch! Even though, in full disclosure, Marlow sent us these ropes at a great discount in exchange for featuring them in some YouTube episodes, know that we are writing this article because we want to, not because we have to or are paid to! We would choose these lines again, and can wholeheartedly recommend them to other boat owners and sailors!

What Lines Are We Using?

10mm D2 GP SK78 – Mainsheet (90 Feet) Black/Grey

10mm D2 Club SK75 – Mainsail Reef Lines (3x)

10mm D2 GP SK78 – Jib Sheets (2x 70 Feet) GP 78 Black/Blue

10mm D2 Club SK75 – Furler Line (92 Feet) D2 Race Grey

8mm Excel R8 – Main Traveler (60 Feet) 

8mm Excel R8 – Cunningham (20 Feet) 

6mm PS 12 Blue – Lazy Jacks (150 Feet) 

4mm D12 Yellow – Jack Lines (100 Feet) 

7mm D12 SK78 MAX – Mainsail Preventers (2x 60 Feet) 

6mm D12 SK78 White – Mainsail Preventers & Soft Shackles

6.5mm D12 SK78 – Miscellaneous Spare & Soft Shackles & Loops

More About Our Partnership with Marlow Ropes

The team at Marlow wrote a wonderful article about us which they featured on their website, click here to read it. Of course you can find the complete selection of Marlow Ropes available to your cruising sailboat by clicking here. In our opinion, companies that give back to the sport of sailing and assist with passing on information to encourage the next generation of sailors to get on the water should be supported. We encourage you to support those that support the sport! We are very grateful to be able to represent Marlow Ropes aboard Sweet Ruca on our circumnavigation and want to take this chance to say THANK YOU!!!!