How to attach sheets to jib

[Ross]

The bowline or the variations of it as in the sheet bend and the net knot are very dependable. Yes, there are better knots but but not many I know how to tie about fifty or sxty knots and I choose the one most suitable for the job at hand. Sometimes more than one hitch or knot is used for a single application. A clove can fail when used alone but backed up with a rolling hitch on the standing part it will still be there when the storm has passed.

 

[zeehag]

instructions as to how to tie?/ sorry --i have been tying them correctly since i was 7--that is longer than history,,LOL......oops ross got ther efirst--the linky only gave m e instructios on how to tie one---i am working 50+ yrs and still counting ..LOL...

we can argue knots until our hair turns green -- there are many and thre are many differing points of view--but the easiest thing to change at sea underway when a chafe is either threatening to mess ye up or just after it does, is the bowline--easy to open and easy to re-tie--yet strong and reliable. no knot works with spectra so i dont even go there....

 

[geneWj]

Well, it sounds like a lot of B.S. to me!

Over a 100.000 miles offshore, 2 circumnavigations, plus. Never had a bowline fail on a sheet!

real easy for the arm chair sailors to make comments, back them up with fact about sailing not rock climbing!
geneWj

 

[Ed A]

Im with gene on the failures. No problem in lots of miles. that being said i also have had a few knots on my head from flailing snap shackles on jib sheets( dumb ideas ) and from knots. Also the still tend to hang on the forward lowers.
The key is to tie the knot properly. If done correctly the lines should be tied on opposite sides so the bowlines saddle are on the outside. If you look at the knot you will see it has a smooth side and a side where the line can catch the shroud. just tie the knot so both bulky sides are outboard and they will work a lot better.

 

[Maine Sail]

real easy for the arm chair sailors to make comments, back them up with fact about sailing not rock climbing!
geneWj

Gene,

Rich H. is not an arm chair sailor by any means and he has lots of off shore miles under his keel, BUT, he is an engineer. If something has a .002% chance of failure Rich will often come down on the side of "will fail" rather than "has potential to fail"...

 

[RichH]

Hey Gene I really apologize to you.
I only have ~50K offshore, 2 transAtlantics, 1 passage to Greenland & Labrador, 40 years of racing + match racing. Have several advanced tech degrees. Have done consulting and forensics for some of the 'name' designers.
But humbly, Im really in AWE of your credentials .... wow, were these circumnavs. in 'grey painted' boats??

 

[J Hunter]

When my Dad rigged our '76 Hunter 30 after we took delivery there was an extra snap/swivel shackle laying around and he used it at the jib clew. A year later he had an experienced sailing friend on board who had us cut the sheet in half and get rid of the shackle (very dangerous, you know). Used two bowlines for more than a decade, long after by Dad died.

Put the boat back in after a multi year dry dock 11 years ago, when picking up some new sheet cordage I got to thinking of all those bowlines I tied and untied, and those two short years I had the lovable death shackle. Sorry safety worriers- went back to the shackle, have even taken it in the side of the head once or twice in +20 knots, God I'm lazy to the point of injury.

 

[druid]

I've never had a bowline I've tied ever come loose. And if it does, I really don't see it as The End Of The World - a lot less stressful than say having a halyard jam when you're trying to get the sail down. And since there's TWO, you have a spare. The single-line solutions mean if the "knot" breaks, you're lost it.

One thing I do NOT like about bowlines is their weight: I've been hit by a flogging sail's sheet-knots and it's not pretty, even in relatively light winds. A good smack could knock you out (and I've now lost TWO pair of glasses overboard from the bowlines hitting me in the side of the head)

Everything has compromise...
druid