Loose Clew. . .

[kenpreston46]

Yesterday's sailing on Puget Sound was a bit more athletic than
usual,
steady 25kn gusting 35 or 40 at times with the rain squalls. At one
point I decided I wanted to put another roll in the jib (I had 2 of 3
reefs down and 6 rolls in the jib. . .9 rolls turned out to be nicer,
later). Anyway, while rolling up the jib I let it flog too much and
it
managed to unhook its snapshackle to the jibsheets. Exciting times
followed until I could get out of the wind and capture the clew. No
damage to anything but this is clearly not acceptable and had I not
been able to duck into a handy bay with good shelter to put things
back
together it would have been decidedly unpleasant to try to do at sea
under the conditions. So. What's the right way to do this? Thanks,
Ken Preston (Katia Sofia V-2456)

 

[imbissfrank]

Happened to me recently. First time in 23 years ! Bowlines on the end of the sheets are probably a good idea, but I am still using the snapshackle . Lazy I guess.
Frank Gallardo Jr
V-2184 Cin Cinkenpreston46 kenpreston46@... wrote:
Yesterday's sailing on Puget Sound was a bit more athletic than
usual,
steady 25kn gusting 35 or 40 at times with the rain squalls. At one
point I decided I wanted to put another roll in the jib (I had 2 of 3
reefs down and 6 rolls in the jib. . .9 rolls turned out to be nicer,
later). Anyway, while rolling up the jib I let it flog too much and
it
managed to unhook its snapshackle to the jibsheets. Exciting times
followed until I could get out of the wind and capture the clew. No
damage to anything but this is clearly not acceptable and had I not
been able to duck into a handy bay with good shelter to put things
back
together it would have been decidedly unpleasant to try to do at sea
under the conditions. So. What's the right way to do this? Thanks,
Ken Preston (Katia Sofia V-2456)

 

[vega1860]

Ken I'm surprised an experienced sailor like you uses a snap shackle on your jib sheets. I was taught to use bowlines to attach the sheets to the clew and, for anything more than a leisurely day sail, seize the tail to the standing part to be certain it can't come untied. Aside from the misfortune you experienced, that metal snapshackle, if still attached to the sail and flogging about, can put a nasty ding in your foredeck crew's head.

Besides, knots are cheaper than hardware. d;^)

Chuck

"kenpreston46" kenpreston46@... wrote:

 

[moondance5003]

Hi Ken,

I use a bowline at the clew. Easy enough to untie if done correctly
and you don't have to re-run the sheets aft to the cockpit winch each
time you change sails. You might also try a simple down-haul to help
get that flogging sail down on deck while you are still at the mast or
in the cockpit. That clew can (I know from experience) smack the #*&^
out of you if it flogs any.

Robert