Jeff wrote:
Maynard G. Krebbs wrote:

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 12:29:10 -0500, Gogarty
wrote:


In article rs.com,
says...


The jist was that there are some new high tech ropes that have
different characteristics than we are accoustomed to and you may
need to be careful. I think that this was some sort of braid over a
parallel core but would not swear to it.


Have some of that stuff on my new main halyard. Maybe some people can
splice it. I can't. So it is affixed to the head shackle with a knot,
but not a bowline. I forget the name but it is specifically
recommended for halyards because it will not come loose and will not
jam in the sheaves. It's also whipped to make sure it won't come loose.



Possibly a "Buntline Hitch"?
Mark E. Williams

The buntline hitch is the same as the stuns'l tackbend that I have
advocated on a number of occasions, and Roger showed in his picture.

http://www.dirauxwest.org/knots/buntline.htm

It is the perfect knot for a number of places, such as the halyard, but
can be a problem if used to attach two large sheets to a jib.
Buntline hitches are hard to undo. We use them where we need a strong
knot that takes no space and never gets undone. The bitter end of the
reefing lines (on the boom).

For all our sheets we use bowlines. We haven't had one come undone
since I have been sailing the boat. Our genoa sheets are 25mm or about
an inch in diameter. If we used a correspondingly large shackle it
would do significant damage. Even so we have had sailors knocked out by
the line itself. Sure the bowline occasionally gets snagged on a shroud
but it shakes it self loose pretty quickly. Not really a problem.

We tie our bowlines with long tails. One bowline is tied close to the
sail, the other a little longer so they don't make double the lump to
get around the shrouds.

Gary