Using spinnaker halyard as a backup jib halyard - bad idea!

 A couple weeks ago we had the jib halyard let go just before a race.  It resulted in the jib halyard skying (going all the way up to the top).  For this size of boat that means taking down the mast to get the halyard back.  We switched to the spinnaker halyard for the jib and all was well.  Or was it?…

Two weeks later I am tidying up the boat and see that the lower exit block for the spinnaker halyard is pushed out.  The top screw that held it in is stripped out and gone.  The plastic cover plate is broken.  Weird!

I now realize what happened.  The spinnaker halyard isn’t designed for high loads.  Not the loads that a jib sail gets on a windy day.   The exit blocks are not positioned to handle it and they aren’t designed for it either.

The jib and main halyards have higher load exit blocks and sheaves on top.  On the bottom of the mast they exit straight down through a long hole.  No 90 degree turn at the base of the mast.  

I’ll be lucky if the spinnaker halyard upper exit block isn’t damaged as well.  Time to look at it with some binoculars.

Seemed like a good idea at the time.   By the way - I got the jib halyard down by raising some fishing jigs up on the spinnaker halyard.  They hung down enough that they snagged the jib halyard.