"Roger Long" wrote:
What is the best headsail sheet attachment method? Clearly I don’t
want a metal flabingis up there flailing around but I’d like to be
able to easily remove the sheets so I can use the same ones on the
working jib. Which knot?


Wrong question.
Why knot?


Wayne.B wrote:
All of that is sort of mutually exclusive. If you want to be able to
easily remove the sheets, AND clear easily around the shrouds, your
best bet is a nice sleek metal flabingis. That's what most racing
boats use, and they typically weigh less than the D-ring which can
also give you a good smack.


Hmm... I don't know of that many boats using metal shackles
on the jib sheets. You can look at pictures from Key West
and see for yourself. You may be thinking of spinnaker clew
shackles, of which there are several types including some
that are made of some type of space age plastic instead of
metal (which I'd prefer if I had to go this route)


In lieu of that, there is no substitute for a good bowline knot. It
has been the traditional way for a kazillion years because it is
strong, reliable and easy to untie. The downside is that a bowline
will hang on the shrouds once in a while, and some crew members never
seem to master tying one in a fast and efficient way.


Another alternative is to put a figure-eight knot thru the
clew in such a way that it passes on the outside of the sail
from the shrouds. I learned to do this with spinnakers and
it also works for jibs. Another alternative is to splice the
sheets together as if you were forming an eye, but instead
have a single tail. This can be fastened either with a
bowline or the figure-eight, and it has less tendency to
catch on the shrouds because it's not being dragged by the
lazy sheet. The splice tends to run smoothly as it's hauled
around.

The problem with a shackle on the jib clew is that it flails
the crap out of everything, including any human flesh that
gets in it's way. For years we sailed boats that used
double-purhcase jib sheets, and so had to have small blocks
at the jib clew. You could often hear the mast ring like a
bell when we tacked, and it was well marked in the area
corresponding to the jib clew.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King