To thimble or not to thimble

[richardh10]

That is the question!

I am going to replace the (wire) halyard on my main with a rope one, but what is the preferred way of connecting it to the sail? A thimble, a soft splice or just knot it?

No doubt there are practitioners of all methods, but what are the pros and cons

Cheers

 

[Stork_III]

Halyard knot. Can be periodically retied to move the sheave wear point.

http://www.animatedknots.com/halyard/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

 

[sailorman]

Halyard knot. Can be periodically retied to move the sheave wear point.

http://www.animatedknots.com/halyard/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

Also end for end it too, the illistration has a rather short a tail imo

 

[LadyInBed]

Mine came with thimbles, which over time has created wear points on both sides of the thimble due to how I tie it off when not in use and probably when it gets to the top of the mast, rubbing against the mast.
When I get round to cutting them off I will use a halyard knot for all the reasons given above.

 

[richardh10]

The halyard knot does seem to be the way to go

That animated knot website is just brilliant!

 

[Tranona]

No need for a thimble, so a soft spliced eye with a shackle if you want to remove it regularly or a halyard knot as already suggested.

 

[xeitosaphil]

I intend to go for a Halyard knot and shackle when I replace my main halyard, because I have found along with the thimble goes a relatively long braided splice which I have found can limit the hoist?
I also like the idea of being able to adjust the wear points at the top of the mast.

 

[BabaYaga]

Another variety of halyard knot is the one recommended by Seldén, as seen on page 14 of this (useful) pdf:

http://www.riggingandsails.com/pdf/selden-tuning.pdf

The tail comes out along the standing part, so can be lashed to it for extra security.

Works very well with a shackle, preferrably round section, as rectangular can cut into the line.

 

[Norman_E]

A splice can be a problem if the sail reaches close to the masthead, as the splice will be damaged if it gets jammed in the masthead sheave. As an aside if changing from wire to rope you will probably need to change the sheave, as a sheave designed for wire may be too narrow for the rope, and might have sharp edges that will cut into the outer braid.

 

[xeitosaphil]

That's a useful link thanks

 

[estarzinger]

I have recently been doing a lot of knot and splice testing. If you are interested you can see some results here.

For this thread, if you are going to use dacron double braid line for the halyard you can use pretty much any knot. I would pick the most compact - which would probably be the buntline. The halyard knot really offers no advantage over the buntline in dacron.

But if you are going to use a high modulus core (dyneema) to minimize stretch then you need to be more careful with the knot, and neither the halyard nor the buntline proved as good as expected - both slipped in bare dyneema and were very hard on the cover on covered dyneema (the cover tore off at about 1/2 the rated line load).

I designed a knot for this application in high modulus line, which is significantly stronger than the halyard knot, significantly softer on the cover, and will not slip in bare dyneema.

You start with a buntline and then:
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