In my never ending pursuit of the semi-consequential, here's a picture
of the three non- metallic jib sheet attachment candidates. (These are
last year's docklines so, please ignore the Irish pendants.)

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Knots.htm

There's not a lot to chose from in overall mass and weight although
the eyesplice probably has a slight advantage.

Visualize these knots sliding over a stay and you should see some
interesting differences.

The end of the bowline is inside the bight that it shares with the
edge of the sail. I can see how flogging round could push on
the end. With stiff, modern, braid, maybe this could loosen it. With
the loop having previously maybe hung up on the stay, all sorts of
things come to mind.

The Stunsail Sheet Bend at least has the bitter end pointing away from
trouble but it makes for a pretty concentrated mass of rope right
where you already have the weight of the clew cringle or D ring.

I'd been leaning away from the eyesplice before this exercise because
it seemed that everything depended on the splice. Looking at how
locked together the splice would be under load and the fact that it
would almost be a knot without the splice holding at all, I'm becoming
converted. There is no way this is going to come untied. The only
drawback would be if you wanted to change sheets without hauling the
entire line to the bow and through but, for roller jib sheets, who
cares?

The smoothness of the splice option should also relieve the jib of
some localized chafe and wear when the sail is rolled up with the
sheets around it and flapping a bit in the wind.


--

Roger Long