We all know how critical sail shape is to performance and that the sheet controlling said airfoil is matched to the job, whether it’s a zero-stretch, minimum-diameter PBO sheet on a mini-maxi blade, or a fuzzy polyester jib sheet that grips the drum on a big cruiser’s primary. What, then, of the handshake between the two?

Tying directly to the clew is the most basic — though not always lightest — method of attaching jib and spinnaker sheets, and these days, the humble knot still has the biggest cohort of followers overall—everything from Club 420s to beach cats to large cruising and race boats. But there are tradeoffs that come with simplicity. For instance, the simplest of sheet-to-clew connections is the luggage tag (or cow hitch) on a 1-to-1 jib sheet system. Simply take a length of line twice the length of your boat, double it up to find the middle, pass that loop through the clew cringle and then pass the standing ends through the loop.

The luggage tag is a low-profile connection; it doesn’t slip and is as short as any other option, which is more of a consideration in some classes than in others, allowing trim right up to jib cars, fairleads and redirect blocks, such as foot blocks, barber haulers, etc. When you need clearance and simplicity and never change a jib between dock out and haul out, the luggage tag might be perfect for your application. This knot, however, can be the 3M 5200 of knots when it truly sets, especially if it’s a soft polyester line in a high-load application (think J/24 genoa) or if the sheets live on the sail and go through a few wet/dry cycles. 

On the plus side, in cases where the luggage tag is ubiquitous, you’re only likely to need to remove the sheets when they are damaged and need replacing; in which case, what the heck, bust out the knife. In most cases, however, the sail and sheets age gracefully together in the bag and never need to be separated.

As one moves up to larger boats, the simplicity of a knot may still be desirable. It’s not uncommon to see bowlines or buntline hitches get the nod on everything up to masthead genoas on 70-footers — but those bring more considerations. First, tying a knot reduces the strength of a control line by as much as 50 percent, though headsail sheets are often overspecified to ensure maximum grip on winch drums, self-tailers and, of course, the trimmer’s hands.

Of greater concern is the size and bulk of the knot. On a typical 36-plus-foot crossover, a properly tied bowline with a tail, while simple to attach and easy to untie, will create quite a relatively sizeable wad of rope at the clew, likely to catch on everything between the fairleads — shrouds, lifelines, deck cleats, you name it. And, if you’re racing and have a crew crossing in front of the mast, a heavy bowline in 14mm sheets can also add the excitement of possible blunt force trauma to a bowman’s day. For all of these reasons, the simplicity of knots at the clew is generally not enough to earn them usage on larger race boats.

Race boats (and well-sorted cruisers) generally rely on three broad categories of sail connections: hardware, textile and hybrid systems. Hardware solutions come in many forms, from small ball-bearing blocks on the clew rings of 2-to-1 jibs, like those on Stars and Flying Scots, to large titanium T-rings, which are webbed into the clew of a sail and feature a central T-shaped post that an eye splice in the end of a jib sheet slips over.

On large racer/cruisers and grand-prix boats, trigger snap shackles are ubiquitous, especially on tacklines, sheets, guys and halyards on forward sails. Tylaska, Ronstan and Wichard make stainless and titanium versions of these versatile workhorses, popular because they are reliable, very strong, won’t flog open, and can be spiked open under load.

Also available are small, cone-shaped fids (sometimes referred to as ‘Martin Breakers’) that allow the option of remotely releasing the trigger on these shackles, often the tack shackle coming into an asymmetric spinnaker drop.

Two caveats with snap shackles of any type are weight and the potential damage they can cause when the sail flogs—anything they can reach can potentially be dented or otherwise damaged, leading to a cottage industry among marine canvas fabricators of padded mast base protectors, neoprene shackle boots and similar.

Another popular option to consider for jib sheet, main halyard and outhaul connections are Tylaska’s J-Lock shackles. Their low-profile design fits through most genoa lead cars, simplifying leading changing sheets, and also makes them a little less likely to ding up your pride and joy. They are super strong, easy to operate and have a plunger system that makes the possibility of them flogging open remote.

With the increasing prevalence of low-diameter, high-strength single-braid lines, (HMPEs like Dyneema specifically), soft textile connections are having a day. Distinct from tying knots directly to the sail, textile connections are spliced systems designed to capitalize on the strength of these high-modulus fibers as well as their lightweight, non-water absorbing characteristics, while addressing the shortcomings of tying a knot—difficult reversibility, bulk, strength loss, etc. Soft, light connections that take advantage of Dyneema’s natural slippery texture are a no-brainer for connecting sheets to asymmetric spinnakers, adding lubricity as they drag along the shrouds during a jibe.

Much of the prevalence of textile rigging solutions can be traced to the viral popularity of the soft shackle. Made from as little as 18 inches of single-braid HMPE, a soft shackle is, in essence, a sliding loop buried back inside itself with a stopper knot at the other end. Using the “finger trap” characteristics of single-braid rope, the loop is opened, slid around the stopper knot, and milked smooth, creating an incredibly strong loop that can be used for everything from hanging water bottles below to armored vehicle recovery (the overland and 4×4 market for soft shackles dwarfs their marine use).

Years ago, several videos showing step-by-step how to make soft shackles appeared online and had the effect of demystifying working with high-tech rope, and really got the average Wednesday night warrior thinking about ways to use the light, strong fiber all over their boats. Soft shackles have become so ubiquitous that every rigger has their own spin on them — some are covered with 48-plait Dyneema chafe sleeve, some use ‘ripcords’ to make the loop easier to open, some use unidirectional (unbraided) fiber…the customizations and variations are seemingly endless.

As boats get larger, ‘softies’ have their place. Oftentimes, they’ll be spliced into a reeving eye of a single jib sheet, and the two sheets are then soft shackled to the clew of the sail, allowing the lazy sheet to be moved independently.

They are also handy and light for connecting snatch blocks and other deck hardware, as evidenced by the number of block manufacturers – Nautos, Antal, Harken, Ronstan, etc. – that make a lash-on version of their gear.

Another simple method of connecting spin sheets to asymmetric kites is to put 1-inch eyes in the stripped end of each sheet. Then, pass the tail of a ‘pigtail’ (a 20-inch or so length of single-braid Dyneema with a 1-inch eye in one end), through the eyes in the spin sheet ends and then back through the eye in its own other end, leaving you with the two sheet ends lashed together and a single 20-inch, small diameter tail that then gets tied with a bowline to the clew of the sail. The pigtail is small and slick, allowing it to drag around the rig easily, and the sheets can be swapped to a new kite with only one knot to untie. The downsides of using Dyneema single-braids to attach sails are few. 

To be sure, a soft shackle takes more time to open and to attach than a trigger shackle (and gets progressively more difficult as they age), and the hundreds of small denier fibers that make up each plait of the rope are susceptible to chafe. That said, the many advantages of Dyneema connections – UV stability, zero water absorption, extremely light weight and low stretch. With the myriad variations available, there are solutions that address the threats (chafe sleeve, PU coatings, etc.) and should make soft connections a serious consideration.

A final category is what I would describe as ‘hybrid’ connectors – pieces of hardware that rely on a combination of textile rope and a bit of hardware. Companies such as Antal, Ropeye, Equiplite, Nodus, Wichard, Tylaska and Harken, to name a few, all make trick little anodized bits that take the best of both worlds and use them in creative ways. Oftentimes these solutions can be as simple as an anodized ‘dog bone’ – a short, often conical bar tapered towards the center that can be used as a ‘button’ in place of a stopper knot on a soft loop attachment.

Spool shackles are a similar idea – a spliced eye in the end of the sheet passes through the spool, then through the clew of the sail, and then back around the ends of the spool. A soft rubber O-ring slides down to add an element of security when not under load.

At the far end of the simplicity spectrum are high-load shackles that utilize milled spools in conjunction with covered, braided or unidirectional-HMPE fibers, pre-stretched and heat set, often with a Velcro belt to hold everything in place when not under load. Also popular with commercial rigging operations, units like those manufactured by Equiplite are advertised with strengths up to 3,000 tons. For your 36-footer, you can expect to pay a few hundred dollars for one and to then be amazed at how simple, light and strong they are.

At the end of the day, there are an almost infinite number of ways to connect sheets to sails, and every situation has nuances and considerations. What type of boat? Sail? Are you racing or cruising? Is there a chance that you will change sails? If you’re racing, find the good guys in your class and see what they are using and ask them why. If you’re a DIYer, consider getting a set of fids and watching a few YouTube videos about making softies. That will get your mind spinning on the possibilities that exist, and on finding a solution that matches your budget, ambition and needs. Now go get connected.

The post Knots Work, But These Connections are Better appeared first on Sailing World.

Ropes can be finicky. Sometimes they run flawlessly and sometimes they have a mind of their own. Luckily there are some simple techniques to ensure they work as desired.

When it comes to flaking halyards, the most important thing is that the line going out first is on top of the line going out last. On small boats that keep halyards on deck, such as the Etchells, I find the bitter end and lay a large figure-8 pattern on the deck near the halyard cleat.  On midsize boats, I find the bitter end and throw that through the companionway or down into the bottom of a companionway bag.  I then continue to “flake” or drop the remaining line on top of it.

On big boats, I often use a winch as a third hand.  It holds one end of the coil while my left hand holds the other end.  This can be helpful if you have a short “wingspan” or the line gets heavy. Once again starting at the bitter end, my right hand creates a large figure-8 between the winch and my left hand. When finished, I lay the coil down below deck on the floor or in a low-traffic area at the front of the cockpit, ensuring that, when I lay it down, the bitter end is on the bottom.

There are just a couple of rules for coiling lines at the end of the day. When I was younger, I knew when I had done it wrong when my father, a long-time boat captain, threw the sheet at me and told me to do it again. 

First, make long, even full-arm span coils. Many high-end ropes will naturally lay in the desirable figure-eight as you coil. On small boats with smaller and often softer lines, the rope may naturally lay in a loop. This is ok.  As I am coiling rope, I grab the line in my fists, stretch to full “wingspan” and then bring my fists together without letting the line twist in my grip. However the line naturally lays is how I let it be. Second, at the end, make the cinching nice and tight so the coil stays together. There are numerous ways to finish the coil. On smaller boats I prefer the cinching around the entire coil a little under the top. On larger boats I cinch the line around the top of the coil. Lastly, and many a boat captain’s pet peeve, leave a long enough tail so the coil can be hung. 

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It’s easy to underestimate the benefits of good running rigging. There are many rope products on the market, and there is a time and a place for most of them. Let’s take a look at lines that need the most attention and why, as well as basic rules for using low-stretch line, using lightweight or tapered line where most beneficial and using rope that is easy to work with.

Let’s start up front with the headsail halyard. Luff tension greatly affects shape and thus performance of the jib or genoa, so having a halyard that is as low-stretch as possible is paramount.  Saving a little weight aloft is also key, so find a lightweight rope as well. It’s a little against the norm, but for club racing boats that aren’t tapering their halyards, I really like some of the Vectran-cored ropes. Products like Samson’s Validator and New England Ropes V-100 are easy on the hands and easy to splice.  For a little more grand-prixed tapered halyard, talk to our local rigger about using a DUX core, or other heat-set Dyneema, with a Technora-based cover. Lately, I’ve been using a lot of Marlow’s D12 MAX 78 and 99. Tapering the halyard saves weight aloft as well. I like soft shackles for jib halyards. There, weight savings aloft generally outweighs the little extra time a bowman needs to attach the sail. This is especially true in sprit boats where the jib is rarely removed from the headstay. 

Pro Tip: When not racing, use a halyard leader to pull the halyards to the top of the mast, getting the tapered section out of the sun. For extra protection, put all the halyard tails into an old duffle bag at the base of the mast when not in use.

For jib sheets, I follow the same low-stretch rule as the jib halyard. I don’t want the jib sheet to stretch at all when a puff hits. On boats with overlapping genoas, I don’t generally recommend tapering the line because by the time the genoa is trimmed all the way in, the clew is really close to the block. On boats with non-overlapping jibs, tapering is an easy way to save a little weigh.  Plus, the smaller core size runs through across the boat more easily in tacks. I’ve been using soft shackles on the jib or genoa sheets for a while now, mostly because they don’t beat the mast up during tacks. There also a bit “softer” when they hit you. 

What about jib lead adjusters? There are a couple of approaches here. Some believe a little stretch is okay, as it allows the lead to rock aft a couple of millimeters in puffs, which twists the top of the jib off slightly. This can be fast as it helps the boat transition through puffs and lulls. I am a fan of this as long as it isn’t too stretchy. I use low-stretch Dyneema for the gross part of the purchase and then a friendlier-on-the-hands rope for the fine tune side, the part that is being handled.  Samson Warpspeed or New England Enduro Braid work well.

Spinnaker sheets are a fun one. They should be relatively low-stretch but not necessarily the lowest stretch. I’ve found that near-zero stretch lines can wreak havoc on people and hardware when flogging or when the chute is collapsing. They have to be easy on the hands, as they are the most moved sheets on the boat, and they should be tapered as far as you can get away with. Tapering saves weigh, which is very important in keeping the spinnaker clew lifting up, especially in light air when sails want to droop. Again, Samson Warpseed and New England Enduro braid are good. For boats with grinders or even small boats with no winches, a cover that is a little grippier or stronger is good. Most Technora-based covers work well for this purpose.

Pro Tip No. 2: On boats with asymmetric spinnakers I like to connect the ‘Y’ sheet with a soft shackle that also goes to the spinnaker. This saves weight. I sew a Velcro strip around one part of the shackle (see picture) so that the soft shackle stays with the ‘Y’ sheet when open. This is beneficial when you have to quickly disconnect or re-run a sheet, replace one sheet, or even quickly replace a soft shackle. On most boats I will keep one spare spinnaker sheet with soft shackle down below as a spare side, changing sheet, or code zero sheet. On boats with a symmetric spinnaker, we’ll splice the spinnaker sheet to the afterguy shackle to save weight in the clew.

The spinnaker halyard has a couple of more options. For halyards supporting code zeros, zero stretch is important. The same principals we used when talking about the jib halyard apply here. For boats without code zeros, I like a little softer halyard with a touch of give. Those tend to run though sheaves better without kinking. Enduro and Warpseed are good for these applications. Most bowmen prefer a shackle that is quick and easy to open. Since a happy bowman is a good thing, I will generally use an appropriately sized Tylaska shackle or dogbone style shackle for those halyards

For symmetric spinnaker boats, the afterguy must be very low stretch line. I go back to products like covered Vectran for club-level sheets. I also find that afterguys generally last longer if I don’t taper them.  When the pole is squared back, the afterguys often run pretty hard across the lifelines, producing a fair amount of chafe. Covered lines help minimize that. 

For tack lines on asymmetric boats, I like matching spinnaker halyard material on club-level boats and using low-stretch heat-set Dyneema cores with a chafe resistant cover for grand prix and sportboats.

Like the headsail halyard, a near-zero stretch main halyard is also important. For me the same line applications apply. Keep the mainsail head at full hoist at all costs. I will often match the material I use for main and jib halyards.

It is most important that the main sheet sit in the winch jaws well and tail perfectly. This is a strict combination of sizing and pliability. I’ve found that the New England Ropes Enduro braid and the Samson Warpspeed II work well for club-level boats with and without winches. For a slightly longer lasting product with some chafe resistance, try any manufacturer’s Technora-based covered line.

The most under-appreciated and least thought about rope on a boat always seems to be the outhaul. The last thing you want when the wind comes up is for your mainsail to get fuller. Spend some time here and use very low-stretch rope. Most heat-set Dyneemas will work great for the gross tune side of the purchase.

Pro Tip No. 3: Minimizing the last purchase of an outhaul greatly increases the ease with which it can be pulled on or eased out. For example, you could have a 6-to-1 to one pulling a 2-to-1, pulling a 2-to-1 and then to the sail for a 24-to-1. Or, better yet, you could have a 4-to-1 pulling a 3-to-1, pulling a 2-to-1 for a 24-to-1 as well. The latter example will work better. Trust me. I’m a doctor . . . sort of. We built an outhaul like this on a SC50. I can pull it on upwind in heavy air with little problem. On the flip side, in light air downwind, it eases just as well.  In fact, if memory serves me right, we did a 3-to-1 in the end rather than the 4-to-1 for a total of 18-to-1 and it worked well.

Runners and backstays should have extremely low stretch. A pumping mast and sagging forestay in breeze isn’t fast. Runner tails, like the mainsheet, should perfectly fit the winch and tail easily without kinking.

With so many options readily on the market now, it can be very confusing. I always recommend contacting your local rigger if you have any questions at all about what rope is right for you. They’ll get you pulling in the right direction.

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