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Cool, soft way of attaching jib sheets

19K views 41 replies 18 participants last post by  TakeFive 
#1 ·
I posted this on sa too but it's really a cruiser shortcut more than anything I think.

It's called the "bubble knot", in the knot tying book I had on my coffee table. For use with a one-part jib sheet. I was going to cut my sheet in half and put eye splices in the ends so I could use an amsteel soft shackle to hook up the jib, but this took me 5 minutes to tie and does almost exactly the same thing.

The loop goes through the clew, then the knot secures it.



 
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#10 ·
The cow hitch is one of the best. I have run into the sheet is to large for the gromet this is a way that could help if you wish to use that line size. Why such a small gromet in the clew? Do we have a sailmaker ready to post? The larger line does not bite your hands. You could change sheet size under way ? Small sheets help in light air. Kind Regards, Lou
 
#12 ·
I've found that once a Cow Hitch is more than about 20 minutes old (figuratively speaking) it takes a marlinspike to get it loose.

If one doesn't want shackles, use bowlines so they can be easily undone later.
 
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#14 ·
I use a cow hitch when I have a single sheet, but I do think that it's hard on the clew of the sail. This system allows for an open loop through the sail so it isn't putting any wear on the corner.

I'm interested to see the instructions on tying the knot. "Bubble" isn't on animated knots or in my knot books.
 
#15 ·
I have taken my "lead" from the IODs I crew on occasionally and use 2 sheets and bowlines. A little bulky I guess but it is good enough for the world champions racing those lithe little boats. It makes for an easy and quick change when changing head sails. "Soft"? What would hard be? Not a metal connection I hope? Jeeze!

Down
 
#19 ·
The major problem I found with bowlines is that they hang up on the shrouds during tacks. A Dutch Shackle (google it; it is similar to the OP) is what I use. It has the secondary advantage that it is faster to attach than a bowline, although we are talking seconds here.

However, I used to brag that it never came loose in over 10 years, and then it happened twice last year. May have to fiddle with it a bit.
 
#16 ·
Not For Me

The cow's hitch may be ok for a dinghy but on a larger vessel, if the sheet separates, you lose the whole sail with no way to bring it under control.

I will continue to use two bowlines but be careful. In a breeze, the bowlines are dangerous. In 25kts, I was knocked to the deck after being hit in the temple while adjusting a genoa car. Last year in similar wind, my wife received a 12" bruise on her thigh after being hit during a tack (she was real proud of her trophy). The lesson is to stay away during a tack.
 
#18 ·
The cow hitch works ok with roller furling genoas which are rarely if ever changed out, and can't realistically be tied and untied every time the boat is used so they are left out exposed to the elements all season.

Bowlines work, but take more time to tie and unti, and on my boat in particular when using the working jib the knots themselves can get caught on the shrouds when trimming for upwind. Plus bowlines hurt when they whack you, and there's two of them hanging off that clew.

My original plan had been to cut my jib sheet into two, and eye splice one end of each sheet, and use an amsteel soft shackle to attach the sheets. But this knot took me 5 minutes to tie, and accomplishes the same thing. I just thought it was cool.
 
#28 ·
Stumble,

I found a source of Amsteel last summer. At $10.00 / pound for mil ends I started using it for all sorts of things. It's ease of splicing, knot holding, low stretch, amazing strength, abrasion resistance and light weight has made it my favorite new toy. I gave soft shackles as stocking stuffers to my kids this past Christmas. Ha! (They are all adults). I just, last week, replaced the boat cover's support structure with an Amsteel ridge line and web. Now the entire 30' cover and structure fits into my Saab's trunk. You gotta love it. No more chain for twitching logs. No more meat hooks on the winch "cable". I love it. I did replace my life lines with it.

It hadn't occurred to me to use a soft shackle for my jib sheets until your post. Thanks! Now to splice eyes in the sheets.

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#31 ·
Yeah dyneema/amsteel is great stuff, so easy to splice! And much cheaper to makes shackles out of. Here's my favorite soft shackle tying method.
Better Soft Shackle

I use them now for nearly everything. Makes sense too. 1/4" amsteel has a breaking strength of 8400#, costs $1.40/ft and requires about 3 feet of material to make a shackle. Hard to beat that economy.
 
#35 ·
This might be off topic but does a chart for sail area vs line size strength with wind speed exist? Lets take say the fishing line in the light air and 180 sq ft of sail needs to be what test ? Then with the same sail you will need a -- size line in a 20 knots? You may also need to change your choice of knot on the clew. Regards. Lou
 
#39 ·
Thanks Lou. Whenever I learn something interesting I try to share it online. I've learned so much myself from others who do the same.

Like stumble said, my understanding of jib sheets is that for the most part you are sizing up for ease of handling.

My light air spinnaker sheets are 1/8" vectran core. They have a tensile strength of about 2000# and could certainly handle the loads in heavy air too, but in anything over 15 knots they start cutting through the gloves. 25' boat.

I think of it this way. The winch on my mast is the same size as my primaries. I weigh about 200#, and get winched up the mast fairly often. I see how much effort is needed to get me up the mast with that winch, even though I usually help with my legs, and i can say with confidence that I never put nearly that much strain on my primaries while trimming the sheets, even beating or trimming the guy on a hot angle. So it is unlikely that the sheets have to handle any loads greater than that of my 200# (plus friction so to be safe I say 300#). Obviously you want some room for error, but still this gives a ballpark figure in my mind.

I have winched my 250# father up the mast of his 32' keelboat, and found that on his (larger) primaries, the strain in low gear while winching him up is about equal to the max strain in low gear on the primaries while trimming, so for his 32 footer a minimum working load of say 375# is required, plus a margin of error. So 1/4" sta set polyester double braid, with a tensile strength of 2350#, and a working load for non critical applications of about 460# (tensile strength/5), could theoretically handle the loads. But it would be tough as hell on the hands and there may not be enough room on the winch for the number of turns you would need to make it manageable!

I tend to overestimate loads on my own boat, it helps to be able to put things in perspective.
 
#41 ·
One more thought for my life line anchor at work we are told 5000 lbs this is for the average mans weight for 200 lbs as average. I am 180lbs We have seen films in a fall of six foot a 200 pound block can get shock loads of 2-3000 lbs That is why they want the 5000 lbs safety anchor. This jerk might be why knots get so tight or lines snap. I just wish I could tack that fast LOL Regards, Lou
 
#42 ·
I suspect that there's more to it than that. The 200 lb downward pull on a horizontal lifeline results in a tension that is many times greater than 200 lb. Some simple force vector calculations can show that easily.
 
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