On Nov 29, 5:38 pm, "Bill Daniels" bildan@comcast-dot-net wrote:
Yes, they certainly pull against the heavy payout brake - they have to,
they're using steel cable. You have to keep steel under tension to prevent
tangles. Spectra/Dyneema doesn't need that tension.

The pay-out brake is not to keep the line under tension, it's to stop
the drum when the retrieve stops, or the drum keeps turning and paying
out cable which forms great big loops hanging down from the drum. A
drum of UHMWPE will of course be much lighter than a steel one, but
the drum itself is heavy enough. If the brake is weak you have to tow
very slowly, which is frustrating.


Derek says Dyneema doesn't work because it's too expensive, wears out faster
than steel and doesn't provide any aditional height. Evedence from many
other sites successfuly using Dyneema is to the contrary on all points. The
difference is that successful sites did their homework and made all the
neccessary changes.

Lasham isn't the only club that tried UHMWPE and abadonded it.
Pocklington tried it too - with a brand new Skylaunch winch - and also
abandoned it. Another club I know well is only using up their current
stock of it before reverting to steel. A number of sites had initially
very favourable results with UHMWPE but I've never seen any follow-up
results, which were promised by the BGA but have never materialised
(afaik).


Dan