Best halyard attachment to mainsail?

[svaletheia]

Hi again everyone and many thanks for the great info and helpful advice here.

As a followup to my previous post about what knot I was accidentally tying (which, as I mentioned, has temporarily been replaced with a buntline hitch), I would like to understand the best way to attach my Sta-Set X halyards to my mainsail and jib.

The ways I understand are:

1. Knot it, either onto a shackle or directly to the sail. This would be a buntline hitch or bowline.
2. Eye splice it to a shackle of some sort (I'm going to assume some shackles are better than others for this purpose? I have a nice captive pin shackle that I currently use in this situation.)
3. Use a Tylaska Spool Shackle (http://www.tylaska.com/spooltype.html)
4. ???

My concern about knots is that they severely weaken a line and are difficult to release in many conditions.

My concern about eye spliced shackles is that the shackle can fail requiring replacement of the eye splice and that shackles can bind, break, and have their own set of problems releasing and connecting.

I've seen the spool shackle on several of the race boats I crew on and have really liked how simple and strong the connection is, how easy it is to attach and remove with numb hands and after being extremely loaded, and how nice it is to the line (provided the headboard is appropriately chafe protected - the line bears the load directly). My only concern with these is that the radius of the line as it passes through the headboard might be too small and thus weaken the halyard much like a knot. This is mitigated by the fact that its an eye splice through there, thus double line and therefore higher strength, nevertheless I am not sure how concerned I should be about it.

So, I'm asking you master riggers: while I'm in the process of redoing my halyards and ready to make some eye splices, what is the most appropriate method of affixing my Sta-Set X halyards to my head-boarded mainsail and my standard head-ring jibs?

[Brion Toss]

Hi there,
Hitches only weaken a line by about 20% in X; splices are preferable, not because of the greater ultimate strength, but because they are the most chafe-proof, fairest, and secure knots.
Spool shackles allow for a quick disconnect, but Diamond-knot-based soft shackles are nearly as fast, and much cheaper. As for the headboard, "tight radius" is a relative term; the stronger the line is, the lower the relative load, and the less the problem, even without considering how a doubled (ring-hitched) part lowers the relative load further. Fairing the edges of the hole would seem to be an option, too.
So to answer your question, my first choice would be a spliced halyard with a Diamond-based shackle. If more speed were required, look at a spool shackle. And if price drives everything, Buntline hitch, and deal with untying it.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[svaletheia]

That was immensely constructive and informative, thank you Brion.

My splicing wand from your rigging shop arrived yesterday - I'll be popping those eye splices in soon. And I've just done a couple of my first Amsteel-based soft shackles, so I'm quite looking forward to putting your advice to work.

Thanks again!

-- Daniel

[EdnaHall]

As for the headboard, "tight radius" is a relative term; the stronger the line is, the lower the relative load, and the less the problem, even without considering how a doubled (ring-hitched) part lowers the relative load further.???