Thanks David. The halyard is not tapered and I do not have cover for the clutch.
I suppose it could be something other than the sheave, though I ordered new sheaves from Layline this afternoon.
I haven't been up there for a look. The area rigging ladders aren't tall enough for masthead work.
I think I'll have to have a yard guy go up in a crane, which I hate to do as I won't be able to see for myself what's going on up there.
Whatever it is really did a number on the halyard - the cover is completely off in two 1" sections. What I can't figure out is why it did it just at those two spots (they're about 10" apart). The rest of the halyard has no indication of wear.
I'm going to send the halyard back to Layline to taper. In the meantime, I need to track down the cause of the problem.
