[sailingdog]

And left-hand laid three-strand gets coiled counter-clockwise. But left-hand laid line is pretty rare...

Originally Posted by pirateofcapeann

Yup, Right hand, three stranded gets coiled clockwise into the left hand, with a slight twist to keep the coils round, but I’ve seen damn little of that stuff these days, cept in like anchor rodes (sometimes) and dock-lines (again, sometimes). For the most part, we’re using 3/8 Dacron yacht-braid for sheets and halyards. Stuff is strong enough for all but the largest boats, is a good size to get a good grip on, is flexible enough and coils down small enough to be convenient. BUT, you should coil it in a figure-of-eight fashion to avoid twists (I was taught that they were called “assholes”) getting jammed in and transferring through the running gear (Look at the first part of your main halyard and see if the braid isn’t lying fair next time you go out).