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How do you tie a cleat hitch?

4K views 31 replies 21 participants last post by  ShoalFinder 
#1 ·
I noticed in this months issue of Sail magazine they had an article on knots. It featured seven knots i would assume anyone would know if they spent one day at the Marina, but i was intrigued by their cheat hitch. I was taught to tie it as simply a three quarter billet and then a half hitch around the horn. The article showed a full figure eight and then another billet before the the hitch. My girl friend, who worked for years on tall ships on the east coast does it the Sail mag way. We haven't yet had an argument about who's right, but it made me wonder, how do most of you do it?
 
#6 ·
Round turn first is a good idea, especially if any strain is possibly when making of unmaking the cleat hitch.

And the finish is important. You have a 50% chance of doing the final tucked-under half hitch right--or "granny" wrong. Try it either way and you'll know which is right without anyone telling you.


PS, cheating here---Hammer guy above did it right..
 
#15 ·
Yes, this is the way I learned it and have instructed it to students as well. I guess what I'm saying is, the Sail Mag hitch seems like overkill... I suppose on the dock it doesn't much matter, but for those of us without self tailing winches, I'd stick with one above.
 
#17 ·
I suppose on the dock it doesn't much matter]
On a dock I like the minimum needed as we often a cleat for both breast and spring lines. On the boat the mid ship cleat is often used for both forward and aft spring lines.
 
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#22 ·
On a dock I like the minimum needed as we often a cleat for both breast and spring lines. On the boat the mid ship cleat is often used for both forward and aft spring lines.
A good point. Also applies to the cleats available on the dock. We have a stern, stern breast, midship, bow spring and two bow lines that all have to go on four cleats...
 
#9 ·
GREETINGS EARTHLINGS :- I have never used this knot as it is known as a locking turn on the cleat. This can be dangerous when sailing big boats and you have to release the cleat in a hurry (for what ever reason). We just put more turns on the cealt. AS ALWAYS GO SAFE.
 
#32 · (Edited)
In my younger years working tug boats, your way is exactly the way we worked. A locking hitch would be a disaster waiting to happen. A few reasons come to mind:

1. With a locking hitch, there would be no way to get the line free of the cleat fast enough in an emergency cast-off situation

2. To remove the locking hitch would require someone to put their hands all over a line with an indeterminate amount of tonnage just waiting to snatch the line tight with your hands in there. (You ALWAYS slack a working line from several feet away by surging it. You could not surge off a locking hitch)

3. A locking hitch will not take any more working load than another wrap or two would accomplish

BUT, here's the difference:

A cleat hitch on a pleasure craft is usually to secure the vessel while you are gone and nobody is standing there minding the lines. I can't imagine walking away from my boat with no locking hitches on the cleats.

My boat uses 1/2" line, not 4-inch line. A locking hitch is no biggie to get out. If I can't use one hand to pull slack from the dock end toward the cleat, then the line is too tight to take loose. (imagine a case where the tide went out a lot more than you expect) I'll get a fid or a spike to take loose the hitch just in case the line decides to run as I pry the hitch loose.

Old habits do die hard. I still take a full turn around the base before I begin my figure-eight because the base should hold the load and the horns are just to give the line a way to bind on itself. I do a figure-eight, then one more half turn, then my locking hitch (half hitch.) All of which I know full well is silly and overkill. I can't help it. What was beaten into my skull so long ago just won't leave me.
 
#10 ·
The RYA does not use a locking hitch, they go twice around the the base of the cleat.

The standards I teach use a single locking half hitch, parallel to the line underneath.
 
#12 ·
Always used as the animated one displays... but also like others say, for cleats used where one might need to release quickly (like I dunno, jib sheets), you don't use a locking turn.

But my boat is just a baby, and I have clam cleats for my jib sheets, however on our US 27 we had horns, and these are the ones I'd shudder to use a locking turn. For dock cleats, no problem lock em up.
 
#19 ·
What do they call it??? TWO rivers and a bridge?

For my docklines (which are the only lines cleated off on my boat) I insist the first turn be led towards amidships on the side of the cleat closest to the toe rail, turned from the toerail in, then led towards the midships of the boat, turn around the horn, Cross over the cleat, around the aft or fwd most horn, and finished w/ a locking turn at the other end that leaves the bitter end on the INSIDE of the cleat. This way it's easier to flip the line to "lock it" and EVERY cleat can be untied (and retied) in the dark.
 
#21 ·
Leave out the turn around the base of the cleat and double the knot. That way working line doesn't rub on edge of dock and you eliminate chance for chaffing. That is working portion comes off top of cleat instead of bottom.
try it ....you'll like it
 
#25 ·
I have never used this knot as it is known as a locking turn on the cleat. This can be dangerous when sailing big boats and you have to release the cleat in a hurry (for what ever reason). We just put more turns on the cealt. AS ALWAYS GO SAFE.
I sailed on the schooner Heritage in Maine. They did not use locking hitches for the same reason - that they take to long to remove. I disagree, removing a bunch of wraps can kink the line and takes more time than removing a single hitch. If the line is led around the cleat's base, there won't be much if any strain on the hitch and it's easy to remove.
 
#28 ·
For the sheets and halyards while sailing, (No self tailing, regular horn cleats only) I never put on a locking hitch, I just take three wraps around the base of the cleat, nothing over the top. I have never had that come loose while sailing, even when the sail is flogging hard. Easy to undo in a hurry, never jams up. My boat is only 32 feet, so that might not work so well on a larger boat, I don't know...
 
#29 ·
Great conversation. I know the U.S.C.G. does not use locking hitches on dock lines, sometimes called a weather hitch. The consideration with a round turn at the base of the cleat is jamming at high load. Depending on the size of the cleat, line and load. Big boat - big lines - big loads.
 
#30 ·
I've had the breast and spring lines jam up tight at the hitch unless I put three full figure 8s on over a 3/4 turn around the base. This only happens if we have a big blow but it's just become habit now. I also like chafe guard that covers the first two turns around the base because that's where the line always starts to show wear from the constant working.
 
#31 ·
I've had the breast and spring lines jam up tight at the hitch unless I put three full figure 8s on over a 3/4 turn around the base. This only happens if we have a big blow but it's just become habit now. I also like chafe guard that covers the first two turns around the base because that's where the line always starts to show wear from the constant working.
That is what I was thinking about the additional figure 8's. The locking hitch would tend not to jam if it is more turns away from the load. Still, might not be necessary to lock.
 
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