Tying up to the shrouds - is it acceptable?

[JumbleDuck]

In this case it's the mass of the boat that matters, surely. The force required to stop a 6 tonne boat moving at 1 m/s is exactly the same as the force required to stop a wheeled vehicle weighing the same. Of course, that force may be partly provided by either skin friction or rolling friction, but the total force required is the same.

 

[Lucky Duck]

So it should be possible to stop a small lorry at low speed with a 10mm rope and a cleat....

 

[Kelpie]

So it should be possible to stop a small lorry at low speed with a 10mm rope and a cleat....

Absolutely. Fu=ma. The 'm' is big, so the 'a' has to be small. You will need a long rope...

 

[davidej]

Bitter experience says no never.

On a very still day I tied alongside a huge 100 ft + dutch botter type boat and put a warp to its chain plate which was about 10mm by 40mm steel.

While i was ashore , a humongous thunderstorm came through with gusts of 40 + Kts. The rocking of the two boats bent this very substantial piece of steel.

Although the owner was away, I owned up to the marina and several weeks later got a bill for about 300 euros.