Safety lines - 2 or 3 clip?

EdBeynon said:
It's a great plan till you've forgotten your knife or you are being thrown about so wildly that faffing with a knife is not an option. You do it your way. I'll do it mine.
Click to expand...

you could have just said "You do it your way. I'll do it mine" but you had to go on.

Break

The knife, I carry for other reasons NOT to cut a tether. In fact having read enough books about the dis-advantages of cutting tethers I would rather have a cow's Hitch and be done with it.

Anyway my advice is: Go with what ever feels comfortable - If your not going to be coffee Grinding then go with the 3 point tether with 2-3 clips like EdBeyon recommends. If you are then go with the cow hitch. I will ask the volvo guys who are next to us on the quay here in Lanzarote to see what they do. As they were telling us the other day what it was like - sounded bloody awful! Wet, soaked all the way through for the whole race!
 
Last edited:
Why not try your boat to see what the best length is? I had my own made up by a sailmaker - it's slightly longer than normal (about 7') and has a loop about 3' down. I used to used to slip the loop through the carabiner on my harness (no lifejacket back then) if I wanted to shorten it. I did because I just couldn't work the foredeck on a Nicholson 43 I used to crew many, many years ago without constantly un-clipping. Never got caught on anything as there was only short loop dangling but it gave me about 4' which was long enough to work the mast in really bad weather. 7' at the mast would have had me over the side. I don't know if there's some reason not to do this but it worked perfectly for me.
 
Florida to Adelaide was the wildest so far, not been rescued yet.

I honestly don't see the point in that cow hitch for cruising.

For instance with my 2 clip line I could go below, unclip myself, use the loo, do some chart, make some tea, clip back to my line and come out in the cockpit.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the advice everyone. I can see considerable merit in not using the cow hitch method of attachment. I think something like this could be the best option.

safetyline.jpg
 
snowleopard said:
The only reason for having two attachments is if you anticipate having to change clip-on points after leaving the cockpit. My jackstay runs from one side of the cockpit, round the mast and back to the other side so I never need to unclip while on deck.
Click to expand...

So you might be connected to the boat at all times, but you're not exactly secure. The point of the short line is that once you've got where you're going you can fix yourself in position so you don't get thrown around (so much).

The short lines on Stavros's harnesses are only six inches long (with the length of the clips and a bit of slack in the harness the effective length is about two or three times that). Not quite appropriate on a yacht, but certainly you're not going anywhere with them.

Pete
 
EdBeynon said:
For instance with my 2 clip line I could go below, unclip myself, use the loo, do some chart, make some tea, clip back to my line and come out in the cockpit.
Click to expand...

So are you unclipping and leaving the tether attached to one of the cockpit "D" points? I recently crossed the Atlantic in December and was using the 2 point clip system. I really wanted to leave the tether clipped on but sadly rules were rules.

"Unclip from the boat when going down below and keep tether with the lifejacket (and hopefully you) at all times."

The two clip version: I got most frustrated with was having to unclip from the Jackstay and be in the cockpit unclipped and then clip back on when in the cockpit. That is my only issue with the 2 point apposed to 3 point (forget the cows hitch that was useful for coffee grinding.
 
We have a tether point near the top of the companionway, so that you can clip on pretty much from the first step, therefore in a safe position.... the three clips then allow you to reach any of the other tether points in the cockpit or the jackstays without being unclipped at any point... on board etiquette is that when harnesses/safety lines are required that anyone going below leaves their line clipped on to the companionway tether point, leaving it free for either a rapid return, or for someone else to use if needed.... works well for us, seems a safe approach and is easy to stick to.
 
I use the 3-clip type shown on a small yacht - mostly single-handed.
The Problem I have with the clips shown is that the jack-stay webbing catches and jams in the safety clip as it is pulled sideways when I go forward. I have to stop and free it.
What is the solution ?
Go back to the simple spring clip ?
Use a double thickness webbing ?
I don't want to go back to wire or rope jack-stays.
Ken
 
My understanding is that Spinlock take the position that it's hard to undo a clip that's under load, while dangling upside down with your head underwater. Therefore they adhere firmly to the cut-the-tether theory and provide a small hook-shaped knife with each lifejacket.

Pete
 
prv said:
My understanding is that Spinlock take the position that it's hard to undo a clip that's under load, while dangling upside down with your head underwater. Therefore they adhere firmly to the cut-the-tether theory and provide a small hook-shaped knife with each lifejacket.

Pete
Click to expand...
You can still cut the tether with clip fastening though.
 
prv said:
My understanding is that Spinlock take the position that it's hard to undo a clip that's under load, while dangling upside down with your head underwater. Therefore they adhere firmly to the cut-the-tether theory and provide a small hook-shaped knife with each lifejacket.

Pete
Click to expand...

Strikes me it's just that a small hook-shaped knife is cheaper than a decent gate-lock carbine hook. It's called 'value engineering'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top