Color Coded Running Rigging - Is there a standard of sorts

[Bluenose]

One of the tasks I particularly enjoyed learning was splicing and whipping lines. I would like to do this again for my new boat. I plan to go with line from Cajun Trading Company so the prices are reasonable enough by the foot to color code lines if I want. Is there any sort of standard for color coding running rigging? Is it worth the effort? Would anyone like to share their methodology here?

The winter rains have set in so I have some splicing time.

Bill

[Tim]

There's no standard. Choose color combinations that make sense to you, and look good to your eye. Other than appearance, the advantage to using various colors is that you can more easily direct someone to the specific line that might need adjusting: "Hey you, grab that blue line and pull it."

I like a variety of line colors myself, rather than using a big reel of one color for the whole boat. I mix and match according to will and whim, but I try to avoid having two identically-colored lines right next to each other. Most of my lines are white with various colored flecks, but I have a few solid-colored lines as well, just to shake things up.

[catamount]

Say, how about using red-colored lines for things on the left side of the boat (like the Jib Halyard) and green-colored lines for things on the right side of the boat (like the Main Halyard)....

[Shark]

Bill,

I agree with Tim's comment and I also use coloured lines on my boat.

Colour coding for the spinnaker control lines is VERY useful while racing and with new crew members. I use solid red and green lines for the sheets, a black line for the halyard and a solid blue line for the spinnaker pole topping lift.

[rshowarth]

I race with a lot of inexperienced crew.

So I use red for port jib sheet, green for starboard jib sheet, black for main halyard, yellow for jib halyard, white with red fleck for downhaul, blue for main sheet, white with blue fleck for certerboard, yellow with black fleck for outhaul...and still need to replace backstay adjuster line.............

Just personal preferences, no standards..........

[Noah]

Just don't put two of the same color lines next to each other. I put the white Spinnaker Tack line next to the off white jib halyard...big mistake that will be corrected this winter.

Up on the bow with the kite set and ready to drop the genoa..."blow the halyard" "which one?" "the jib halyard, the white one" bam, out goes the tack line...ugg. Though to place blame they had just set the tack line 30 seconds before that, so I thought they might remember...

[jollyboat]

I can see how different colors in line being used to identify various components on the boat being helpful - hey if works for the telephone company why not the sailing company. With that said, I will admit to only having three colors on 466. Black and AMSTEEL spectra grey and the jib sheets are white only because they are in good shape and I had them. Speaking for myself the boat is just so static that I just went with one color when buying new lines. I doubt that I will ever confuse the vang for the mainsheet or the cunningham for the outhaul or headsail sheets for the main halyard. I know that many have opted to lead lines aft which I completely understand but I have decided to leave my halyards and many controls at the mast. This choice was made partly in that I enjoy trying completely new systems for tweaking the sails and I have found the basic set up of leaving halyards and main control lines forward the best for me. When I have raced in the past I typically would have crew handle adjustments to items like cunningham, outhaul, leech line and halyards. When just sailing for sailings sake I am more inclined to leave things be for longer peiods of time before adjusting. So in all I went with a more mono-chromatic control set -up.

[Bluenose]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback on line color schemes. I got a bit distracted on other things put I am still chewing on this one and I haven't ordered line yet...