What about this idea I'm leaning towards at this point?

Put a generous sized eyesplice in each sheet and simply bring the
bitter end back through the eye.

I wish I hadn't already bought one half of the sheet accidentally
because just putting a bight in the middle through the cringle and
bringing both bitter ends through it make the most sense to me this
morning.

It seems like this is something there should be a standard for in
traditional boats. I'm surprised I never picked it up from my tarred
hemp and baggywrinkle days. After all, there is a "Topsail Sheet
Bend". That's almost exactly the same requirements as a headsail so,
why isn't it a "Sail Bend" or isn't there a "Jib Sheet Bend". I asked
over at the Wooden Boat Forum where people obsess about these things
and didn't get an answer.

--

Roger Long



"DSK" wrote in message
...
"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