"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

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

Roger Long wrote:
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.

This works until you want to end-for-end it.


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.

I've done this on smaller boats; I'm not sure its appropriate for the
high load of larger boats.


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.


You mean, like a "tackbend"? We've had this discussion before. I use
bowlines, which I've never heard of failing on normal Dacron.
However, they can snag on stays, and if this happens, I would go to
the stunsail tackbend. I use this knot in numerous places, its
probably the most common knot on my boat. One problem is that with
large sheets you have a huge solid hunk of rope on the clew.

http://www.wellesley.edu/Athletics/P...mainsheet.html

Perhaps there is a need for some new high tech product, perhaps a
Kevlar strap that can be spliced onto a sheet. Or is there some soft
equivalent of a "bulldog" clamp for rope?

Invented. Equiplite shackles. Pricey, used on A-Cup, Volvo and Gran
Prix racers.

See: http://www.hallspars.com/Store/R_Equiplite.htm

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:29:15 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

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.

That's OK for a roller furled jib where you leave the sheets attached
permanently, not good however if you have any need for a fast sail
change.

On Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:29:15 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

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.

I don't remember the name but I saw an old squarerigger knot in
Ashley's kot book that looked interesting.
Form a bight about a foot from the end of the sheet then shove the
bight through the ring/cringle. Bring the short tail of the line
around to the side of the sail that the bight is now sticking out of
and insert the tail into the loop. Pull the long sheet tight and the
bight of line captures the short tail of line and pins it.

It works like a monkey trap. The bight can't pull back through the
cringle because of the tail holding it open. Too big of a
cringle/ring or too small of a sheet and it won't hold.

Come to think about it you wouldn't want to let it flog around much.
Mark E. Williams