Genoa sheet knots

[DavidMcMullan]

Is there an alternative recognised way to tie on the genoa sheets, other than with bowlines?
The reason for the query is that the bowline knot tends to catch on the shrouds when tacking. Would a fishermans bend work, with the overhand knot tied on either side of the clew ring?

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[Gunfleet]

If you can be bothered sewing the sheet end into a loop works best - then you pass the loop through the pressed ring on your sail and pass the end of the sheet through the loop and pull it back. That way there's nothing to catch. I had this system on my last boat and keep meaning to sew the loops on this one... someday!

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[Twister_Ken]

Good question. I await the responses with interest.

When I sailed dinghies we just had one long jib sheet with the middle marked. We'd make a loop at the midpoint, push it through the cringle, and pass both ends through it before pulling it tight.

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[Seafort]

Also...Just one long continuous sheet.

What is the best way to bend this one on?

Dave.

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[Seafort]

Missed you there Ken. Tried that but it doesn't inspire confidence on 31 foot of boat.

Dave.


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[qsiv]

We did something similar - except we used a 4mm tail on the clew and tied with a double sheet bend to the sheet.

On other boats the sheets were continuous so we just passed the tail through each way with a stopper.

On bigger boats I havent found anything to beat a bowline - the difficulty is as much finding a knot that will break open when you want to change the sheets to another sail. Anything that has had a couple of 1000 Kg load, been soaked and tried a few times can be mighty hard to undo when you want to.

Theres an <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.equiplite.com/index.jsp>Australian</A> outfit making some 'soft' shackles out of Dyneema/Spectra which look very intersting (on a race boat). They weigh next to nothing, are very small and strong. I'm certainly going to use them for main halyard and lightweight spi sheets (so the clew doesnt get dragged down in light airs) - but I'm not sure I'd trust them on the clew of a genny.... and they are pricey enough to make titanium snaps seem cheap!

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[Twister_Ken]

>Tried that but it doesn't inspire confidence on 31 foot of boat.<

Buy a smaller boat or bigger sheets.

Or try the "loop and stiff tail" described in the Des Sleightholme thread <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again

 

[Abigail]

Take a single long rope to be the sheets. Then splice a loop big enough to go over the rope into a small piece, leaving a tail ('peg') of about 6-9". Slide the small loop to the middle of the long rope, and whip a small loop in the long rope, holding the peg. Feed the whipped loop of the sheets through the clew, and then push the peg of the small loop into it to hold in place. This really does work, I used this for a couple of years on the last boat (haven't got around to it on Roaring Girl yet) and it beats a shackle or a bowline any time. It's soft and it is very easy to do. Particularly if you have hanked on sails rather than roller furling and don't need to struggle with long sheets in a bowline etc every time you change sails.

Thanks to Classic boat for this one BTW

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[Cornishman]

There is a very simple and straightforward way of securing sheets, or any other rope's end for that matter, to a cringle or small eye. It is called a buntline hitch and to tie it pass the end of the rope through the cringle and then clove hitch it back on itself. According to the Admiralty Manual of Seamanship (I'm afraid mine is a very old one from 1951, but knots, bends and hitches don't change that much) ' ....It is more difficult to cast off than a sheet bend or a swab hitch'

We used it to great effect back in the 1970s on the ICC gaff schooner Hoshi and I have used it on genoa sheets for many years.

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[andyball]

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sailnet.com/collections/articles/index.cfm?articleid=rousma017>Here's</A> one I made earlier

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[Gunfleet]

It looks good (from the site offered below) but is it better at remaining snag free than the bowline?

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[ParaHandy]

I use a single long sheet with a loop tied as a single bowline. Works fine ...... and in a few years time, the sheet will become the mainsheet (the worn bits aren't in the way, so to speak).

I went off in a serious way the two sheets each with bowline method after being skelped round the head by the loose leeward sheet knot once or twice .... it was just the right height


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[Cornishman]

Never had any problems with it in 35 years. Make sure you slide it tight up to the cringle, though.

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[LadyInBed]

Re: Also...Just one long continuous sheet.

I would cut a small length of plastic hose to put over the sheet and pad the cringle then put a figure of eight in the sheet either side of the cringle.

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[Gunfleet]

<<I went off in a serious way the two sheets each with bowline method after being skelped round the head by the loose leeward sheet knot once or twice .... it was just the right height>>
So you're not only Scottish but small? ;-)

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[Observer]

Interesting to see a number of quite different ways of doing the same job. I had thought the bowline method was almost universal, until now. Two thoughts occur to me.

1. If a sheet bend is not used to attach sheet to sail, what was its original purpose? (Or is it that the method of attachment to sail is different. After all, tying a sheet bend in a cringle is really no more than a single half-hitch?)

2. Would any of the posters here consider changing their way of doing things having read the recommendations above?


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[Mirelle]

Agree

Shown to me by the late JDS at a lecture on "First time foreign" in the 1970's (not sure what it had to do with the subject, but those were simpler times!).

Nothing to catch and easy to undo. You do need to judge size of sheet and size of cringle quite carefully, and I have made the "pegs" out of hard, stiff, rope.

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[steffen]

What is wrong with a shackle like used to clip a halyard to the sail?

Happy sailing, Steffen

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[Twister_Ken]

What\'s wrong with a shackle?

Injuries have been caused by shackles on flogging genoa sheets. This is maybe less of a problem with roller furlers than it used to be in the days of changing headsails as wind strengths changed.

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[steffen]

Very related

Yesterday i put my new rooler furling genoa up and zipped the cover over it.
To hoist the cover in place i have to remove the sheets, but that obviously unfurles the sail.
Since the sail is slightle higher cut than the old one, the cringle is just out of reach.

How do i hold the furled sail together so i can slide the cover over it.

Happy sailing, Steffen

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