Ideas for designing a new kind of rope

[lpdsn]

Cue twenty posts telling me what it's called, where to buy it and why it's utterly useless.

https://www.force4.co.uk/liros-pre-spliced-docklines-white-m.html

This sort of stuff. Works well. In fact I think it is de-riguer in some of the posher Hamble marinas.

 

[Greenheart]

Francis Herreshoff disagreed:

And even he forgot the phalarope.

 

[{151760}]

Braid on braid doesn't have any inherent twist.

Pete

That's true. I had three-strand in mind when I posted.

 

[Greenheart]

I've been given the task of designing a new rope

I think we're all only telling this chap about the ropes we already have, love, loathe and live with.

Might be academically more interesting to look at things a rope could do, but isn't yet used for, because the ropes we know, don't have the right characteristics.

Like, the singular stiffness of anti-torsion cable, which makes it able to transfer stable rates of twist across a sail's height, for reefing. Not such a conventional rope-requirement.

 

[savageseadog]

I'm fairly sure that many engineers will have covered every possibility in material and construction but...............there may be a James Dyson of the rope world waiting out there.

 

[JumbleDuck]

What about a magnetic rope for tripping lines? Someone was trying to sell laboriously hand-assembled stuff a few years back, but perhaps something a bit more mass-produceable would be possible.

 

[Greenheart]

What about a magnetic rope for tripping lines?

Nice. Or how about the equivalent of the pop-up tent - the self-coiling rope.

Didn't somebody make a very clever elastic hosepipe which neatly furls itself away when not in use?

 

[Neeves]

I would be interested in what prompted the idea for research, which University, background to the project, who is sponsoring.

Universities (Swansea, Leeds, Sheffield, Glasgow) projects in which I was involved, some decades ago, usually had some 'need' already identified and commonly some form of industry backing (maybe this forum is the industry backing). But to have a project without a 'need' looks a bit nebulous. and possibly difficult to complete.

Jonathan

 

[scrambledegg]

How about a rope with some coating that prevents it becoming green and nasty (over winter in temperate climes) .
I'd buy that.

 

[garvellachs]

Hi all,

I've been given the task of designing a new rope for practical boat owners by my University.

I'm looking for specific clients needs (i.e soft, flexible, abrasion resistive) for a rope that would be suitable practical boat owners.

If I could make a rope for you what would you want it to do and what would it be for?

Any constructive feedback would be much appreciated

Thanks,
Dave

Hi Dave - I'm not an expert but I understand that racing boats sometimes use disposable ties or elastic bands on a spinnaker to hold it in a sausage as it is hoisted. When the sail is sheeted in these break and fall into the sea. However the racing rules forbid throwing rubbish in the sea. Perhaps there is room for a product which is environmentally friendly-enough to be used to do this without breaking the rule?

On another tack, the torsion ropes used to wind up (furl) asymmetric sails are ridiculously expensive and quite heavy. Perhaps there is room to invent something suitable that is cheaper or lighter? It needs to be torsionally stiff but able to fold/bend.

 

[[70521]]

Francis Herreshoff disagreed:

Perhaps he should have a chat with the crusty old Coastguard who told me that when I was a yooth

 

[[70521]]

12 has a thread which changes colour when the safe working load has been exceeded

I like that...

Can there be another thread for when the safe working load has been exceeded and you have been using it for another 15 years?

 

[lpdsn]

Hi Dave - I'm not an expert but I understand that racing boats sometimes use disposable ties or elastic bands on a spinnaker to hold it in a sausage as it is hoisted. When the sail is sheeted in these break and fall into the sea. However the racing rules forbid throwing rubbish in the sea. Perhaps there is room for a product which is environmentally friendly-enough to be used to do this without breaking the rule?

On another tack, the torsion ropes used to wind up (furl) asymmetric sails are ridiculously expensive and quite heavy. Perhaps there is room to invent something suitable that is cheaper or lighter? It needs to be torsionally stiff but able to fold/bend.

As you say, now banned by RRS55. I believe several sailmakers have already come up with solutions. It's generally only the bigger boats that used the technique. We certainly don't on a 50 footer I race on.

 

[richardabeattie]

The obvious gap in the market is a rope that can be used to push.

 

[lpdsn]

One idea. I'd like a rope that told me where most of the friction was. i.e. the tension before block X is much lower than the tension after, therefore that block needs looking at. Hard to spot if a block is stiff when not under load.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

That's an impossible brief. There's no such thing on a boat as all-purpose rope. Halyards have far different properties than anchor warps or mooring lines, for instance.
The most general property you might look at is resistance to chafe. There's no application on a boat where chafe is good. The rope would still have to be soft on the hands, though.
Stretch is required in some applications, e.g. anchor warps, but definitely not in others, e.g. halyards.
Strength is easily covered with modern materials.
Tangling is still a major issue, as you'll see if you spend an hour watching at any Marina. Ropes usually tangle because the way they're manufactured induces twist. If you could develop a method of manufacture that didn't involve twisting, you might become a millionaire very quickly.
Point of pedantry: there are no ropes on a boat. There are sheets, lines, halyards, warps and lanyards. Rope is the stuff you make these from.
Good luck.

So knowing the ropes is pointless then!!