genoa sheets - a less bulky knot than a bowline?

chinita said:
I wonder if anybody has tried this method:

http://sailing.about.com/od/equipmentgear/ss/softshacklehowto.htm
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It looks neat, but I would wonder if there would be a problem with the tucked through end catching on the shroud when tacking? Only one way I would guess, but it could be annoying.

I use a soft eye splice in each sheet attached to the clew with soft shackles.
This is very secure and since changing to this method we have not had problems with snagging on the baby stay which were frequent when we used bowlines.
 
nigelmercier said:
Since buying a set of fids, I've been considering fitting the sheets permanently with a soft eye on each. Any thoughts?
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Hmm, actually I can't see any reason not to do that. Obviously when you take the sail off you'll have to store the sheets with it, but that shouldn't present any particular problem.

Pete
 
Once you have spliced the sheets, it is much easier to remove them if you use a soft shackle to attach them to the clew, rather than threading them through each other.
 
Norman_E said:
Once you have spliced the sheets, it is much easier to remove them if you use a soft shackle to attach them to the clew, rather than threading them through each other.
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I guess Nigel's point is, why would you need to remove them?

The only reason I can think of is for those people who regularly have their sails washed. The washing machines might not like having coils of line thumping around attached to the sail. But lots (probably most) of us don't do that. If it was done very occasionally, then cutting the splice and re-doing further down would be no bad thing, to shift any wear points along the sheet (though admittedly you do then have the problem of splicing old braid).

There's nothing I do with my jib and staysail that would be seriously impeded by a couple of gasket-hitches of line hanging off the clew.

Pete
 
I do a simple over-hand knot tied tight to the cringle, leaving about 4 inches of end. I then seize this loose end to the sheet with three 'constrictor knots' tied with suitable thin stuff, and pulled very tight with two pairs of pliers. The whole lot is then tidied up with self-amalgamating tape going from below the main knot all the way down to the sheet part; it helps to get a step-free transition if the end is tapered a bit.
I have been sailing round Brittany for the last month and it has not snagged on the stays once, nor has it pulled out. At the end of the season I just cut the constrictor knots off.
 
hi,
What you need is a topping knot, used on the topsails of square riggers (sheet or rope?)
Also fantastic on roof racks... doesn't loosen with the flogging from the wind. Thread sheet through eye, then make clove hitch on standing part of rope, with the loose end on the inside of loop you have just formed nearest the eye. 'Simples'
 
Rustybarge - isn't that just a secure slipknot - like a halyard knot? Tightens up and wrecks the sail corner and then you have to cut it off to remove it?

OK attaching a line to a roof rack or a shackle perhaps.
 
rustybarge said:
hi,
What you need is a topping knot, used on the topsails of square riggers (sheet or rope?)
Also fantastic on roof racks... doesn't loosen with the flogging from the wind. Thread sheet through eye, then make clove hitch on standing part of rope, with the loose end on the inside of loop you have just formed nearest the eye. 'Simples'
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That's a buntline hitch, used (I have done so) to fasten buntlines to the foot of a square sail. Any sail, not just a topsail.

Its main property is that it jams up very tight on a flogging sail, usually needing to be cut off when the sail is unbent (with rough fake-hemp 3-strand, anyway, you might undo it in slippery braid). I guess you could use it for headsail sheets, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Pete
 
How about a secure horse hitch they use Crete (cretins knot??) as featured in MBM, form clove hitch 8" from end, thread sheet through eye, form loop in loose end and push into center of clove hitch and tighten. Super slim and very secure, won't jam.
 
How about a secure horse hitch they use Crete (cretins knot??) as featured in MBM, form clove hitch 8" from end, thread sheet through eye, form loop in loose end and push into center of clove hitch and tighten. Super slim and very secure, won't jam.
 
solution based on advice is now on test. eyes whipped onto sheets - not eye splices just deperately over-engineered whipping reinforced with duct tape as previously when i had a long single sheet, a whipping in the middle produced an eye that held perfectly even under full strain and i don't have the skills to splice braid on braid properly! then secured with a soft shackle.

bit of advice for those in Burnham - Andy at Yachting Solutions has a cottage industry going making soft shackles while you wait. size as you want and remarkably good value!
 
Surely all these shackle and quick release solutions date back to when we had twenty one sails on board and had to change them six times an hour? Nowadays most of us need remove the sheets once a season at most.

When I went to roller furling I fairly quickly realised that simply making a whipped eye was safer, in terms of crew, safer in terms of the sail and something relaxing to do on a day when it was otherwise not possible to be constructive. It also looks prettier than any knot and with a sharp knife can be undone in a trice, leaving the line undamaged.

Sailed the best part of 1000 Nm in the last thirteen months and no problems, more than can be said for the sail it's tied to!

P.S. my sewn whipping is only about 3/4" inches long on a 16mm sheet.
 
Looks good, my children can handle putting a soft shackle through two eye splices easier than tying two bowlines. So, for a complete novice, how to make the eye splice? Is this the best way to put an eye splice in a genoa sheet?
 
prv said:
That's a buntline hitch, used (I have done so) to fasten buntlines to the foot of a square sail. Any sail, not just a topsail.

Its main property is that it jams up very tight on a flogging sail, usually needing to be cut off when the sail is unbent (with rough fake-hemp 3-strand, anyway, you might undo it in slippery braid). I guess you could use it for headsail sheets, but it wouldn't be my first choice.

Pete
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I have used a buntline hitch for a few seasons now. Very reliable and I have never had a problem untying. Neater and less bulky than a bowline.
 
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