Headsail sheets: what colour tradition do you follow?

[KeelsonGraham]

Red for the port one and green for the starboard one because the wife can’t tell her left from her right. Seemed like a good idea until I realised that she also can’t remember that port is always red and starboard is always green.

 

[Refueler]

I'm one of those who likes to coil lines after use ..... jib sheets I sort once set - so that they run if let go etc.

Easy to point to which one .... no need for red / green etc.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Ours just flake themselves down the main hatch. My experience is that coiling leads to kinking. Can’t be having that while tacking. Still not colour coded though, just different to all other nearby lines

 

[Daydream believer]

I'm one of those who likes to coil lines after use ..... jib sheets I sort once set - so that they run if let go etc.
Easy to point to which one .... no need for red / green etc.

I agree whole heartedly. I have sailed on boats where all the ropes are just dropped on the cockpit floor. Sometimes that have been stuffed haphazardly in bins along the sides of the seats. I find that hopeless , because then they do snag.
One often catches feet in lose ropes when moving around the cockpit. I prefer to coil & hang halyards & reef lines etc on barton rope tidies on the aft end of the cabin. The jib sheet is coiled. It has never jammed yet, but it is of the sort that does not twist.
On my squib, for instance, I have found that one has to be selective about the rope one uses. That has 2:1 sheet on the jib & some ropes twist very easily.
My mainsheet is at my feet but the helm space on my Hanse is very small & if the sheet is flaked it does not cause an issue.

 

[lustyd]

I think the thrown them on the floor thing comes from racing where it's not worth tidying lines as they're used more often. They wouldn't need colour coding though!
Mine are generally coiled, but not in a way that kinks. This is because my preferred sailing involves only one or two tacks in a day

 

[Chiara’s slave]

I think the thrown them on the floor thing comes from racing where it's not worth tidying lines as they're used more often. They wouldn't need colour coding though!
Mine are generally coiled, but not in a way that kinks. This is because my preferred sailing involves only one or two tacks in a day

Eee, luxury! It’s every 5 minutes in the Solent. Either a wind shift or a starboard tacker.

 

[lustyd]

Eee, luxury! It’s every 5 minutes in the Solent. Either a wind shift or a starboard tacker.

Only because your boat goes too fast!

 

[johnalison]

I'm one of those who likes to coil lines after use ..... jib sheets I sort once set - so that they run if let go etc.

Easy to point to which one .... no need for red / green etc.

I (usually) coil mine, but with reversed coils to counter the twist that three turns on the winch will have induced. It takes an effort of will because it is counter-intuitive, but helps a lot in preventing tangles. The main sheet is coiled or flaked and is chucked onto the cockpit sole, where it is out of the way when under the traveller.

 

[Daydream believer]

Only because your boat goes too fast!

& there was me thinking it was because it sails 90 degrees to the true wind

 

[Bobc]

Don't care. Whatever's cheap. It's obvious which are the genoa sheets as a)they're bigger diameter than the others, and b)they're the only ropes that sit round the main winches.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

& there was me thinking it was because it sails 90 degrees to the true wind

About 40. But as she tacks quite quickly, racing habits are hard to shake off. Some other cruisers seem not to bother with wind shifts.

 

[The Q]

I race on a river that's 180ft wide, my boats 16ft, but others can be 7ft 9inches (optimist) to 45ft( broads cruiser), we can be tacking every 30 seconds. On the 3 Rivers Race *****, the river Ant leg is just 50ft wide, it's more a case of when aren't you tacking!!!
Putting ropes away is just not feasible..

3 Rivers Race entries are still open, you could do it in a squib!!
3RR entries and info at.
Home

 

[jwfrary]

I always wonder why people buy from these bins, it's always the same price as cut rope, but at a length not of your choosing.

Ours is cheaper than off the reel but variable in the discount applied.

 

[langstonelayabout]

There’s some guidance as to running rigging colours in the Selden Masts guide here: https://support.seldenmast.com/files/595-540-E.pdf

My boat? I just buy what colour l fancy at the time, but tend to use red for the kicker (red hits you on the head) and blue for the blue/clew outhaul.

 

[dunedin]

Ours just flake themselves down the main hatch. My experience is that coiling leads to kinking. Can’t be having that while tacking. Still not colour coded though, just different to all other nearby lines

Yes, coil three strand rope, flake plaited and modern dyneema cored ropes.

Our jib sheets were both white with green fleck, when the covers started to wear through use replaced with white with blue fleck, as prefer blue to match rest of boat sail covers etc.
Mainsheet original white.