Beam lashings

[john james]

Hey so far so good it's really time to decide on the lashings I have some 3/16 sta-set Black double braid polyester. It seems kind of skinny. I also have Sampson trophy color quarter inch and it seems kind of fat. Wats an old boy to do for lashing's??

[Rogerio Martin]

follow the plans, 5mm polyester rope x seven full turns...5 years and no problem.

[boatsmith]

I would use 1/4"

[Éric Bouvéron]

John, The more times goes, the more I think that it is better to stick with the Wharram book. It is not the polyester line, but the number of rounds that makes the thing solid. When I first mount my boat, some friends told me to use dyneema, or straps, but polyester works ok. Put the lines it in the water for a while, before you use them, and pull as strong as possible when you make the turns. Also, be aware that the inside of the beam is bigger. Rather than to use two different lengths of rope, I use the longest one everywhere, one more turn outside. You may also had some tension with a line around the lashing, between the beam and the anchor point.  

Have fun,

Éric

[Ian R]

I used 6mm (`1/4") polyester, makes a goodlooking job, nice to knot and pull/stretch, less (well, a bit) potential grooving capability on substrate than 5mm.

[Brad Ingram]

I use dyneema cored robline on my inner lashings and frap with the tails. I use polyester on outer lashings, frapped with normal dyneema. The dyneema inner lashing really locks the beam down and prevents any lateral motion of beams in their sockets, but it still has some slight give. I like it much better than all polyester and fell much, much more secure. I use 4mm on my 21, so 5mm should be fine. It never hurts to have extra beef though!