There was a bit of a too-do here recently about bowlines in jib sheets
coming undone. I think it was roughly 50-50 between those who had
experienced it and those who were sure that anyone it had happened to
was a complete lubber who couldn't tie their shoe laces without their
mother's help. Maybe it was 60-40, anyway....

In my continuing obsession with the nearly one hundred bucks worth of
Sta-Set X in my basement, I tried tying some bowlines in it. Maybe
I'm getting weak in my old age but no amount of finishing and
tensioning would produce a knot that I couldn't loosen with some
shaking. I assure you, I know how to tie a bowline. I was tying them
before most of you were born. This rope is pretty springy. I
wouldn't trust a jib sheet bowline in this stuff without a back up
seizing on the bitter end until it had been used for a few sails in a
good wind.

--

Roger Long