Haligonian Winterr

Use a spare slider (or make a little insert) and wrap some thin sandpaper around it, 320-400g should be enough, go slow and be patient. HW

Ocean Rodeo is good. Did a transatlantic in a "Boss" and it did well. Very comfortable seals and the ability to drop the neck out and keep the jacket is really nice going through weather changes. Bit of an agricultural/industrial style to them but they work well, and they have kneepads! HW

I've used this system on a Cookson 50 for a staysail. Load-bearing halyard/luffrope, skinny little "faux-forestay" that only serves as a guide to stop the luff and hanks carrying away during hoist. We put alot of halyard tension on though... HW

Velcro seals are good enough for most applications I think. If you're not often thinking "wow I really wish I had latex seals right now" you probably don't need them. HW

+1 Although roll pins are probably a McMaster order. HW

1. I use a wave every day, holds up well in salt water as long as it's used frequently and oiled every once in awhile (I do mine twice a summer, and I do bow). 2. Get a fixed blade. Knives in toolboxes are perenially under-serviced, and serrated or semi-serrated blades are more difficult to sharpen and not as good for actual "work". I have a Myerchin Offshore as my tool knife. HW

My vote's for Hinckley Portsmouth, RI. Impeccable aluminium work (can also do steel) and even better interior joinery and systems. They've got enough open space for a 56'er. NEB currently has two big projects on the go... HW

+1

Wire. 7x9 galvi. Played the game with Dyneema SK99, Vectran, PBO, Kevlar. If weight isn't critical, go with the faithful. Also no need to polish/change sheaves and quadrant. HW

+1

+1

Colour not measurably, heat-set certainly. HW

Personal experience, advice from shops and trusted riggers, and time. The purpose of a locking brummel is to hold an exact diameter eye (ie. thimble) and to add a backup to the bury. However, I've found that even if you put a brummel in, you still need to stitch the bury to stop it from pulling while flogging. Also some shops and riggers have done pull test which conclude a brummel marginally weakens the splice (more fibre distortion). In this application, if you just did a straight bury, and the buried side of the bridle was loaded, it would pull through around the thimble and could fail. A brummel is an acceptable way to get around this if you're constrained by length. HW

Just make sure if you're gluing them on, you use legit epoxy. Thickened West can work, but G/Flex or SpaBond equivalent is better. HW

Looks fine, only thing I would be concerned about is when only the "inside" (buried) half of the bridle is loaded, it could cinch up on the thimble and do weird things to the brummel. Normally I'm starkly opposed to brummels, but in this case they are useful. HW