Spool Shackles

[bigwhitesofadog]

I'm thinking about using a Tyleska spool shackle instead of a Brummel splice to attach Genoa sheets. I don't want to cut the line in two and splice loops, I want to run a bight in the middle of the line through the spool. Has anyone tried this?

[Renoir]

First try middling the sheet, put it through the clew and simply run the two ends through the resulting loop. Notice that you don't really have a problem with the lines moving in the clew once it is drawn up. You may prefer this method to spending money and whistling through what was once your front teeth that could have been knocked out by that piece of shackle snapping in the wind as you went forward to douse the sail in too heavy a wind.

Sorry to hear about your teeth. Roller furling is great stuff. I don't think a lark's head will hold the sheets.

[Matthew Sebring]

Hehe, I don't think he lost his teeth but any man on your foredeck certainly could. Shackles should be avoided on your jib sheets at all costs. In addition to the personal injury possibilities you can bang the hell out of your mast with that flailing hunk of metal or plastic up there. On most boats in most cases a larks head will hold though a clove hitch is better. Those are pretty much the standard in our local J-24 fleet. Both might be hell to untie though if you've had it up there a long time such as on a roller furler. Another technique that I've used is to tie a bowline on the bight in the middle of the line and shift the loops until one is rather long and one short. Tie a stopper knot (I've only ever used an overhand knot for this) in the long one. To use, feed the short loop through the clew then pull the longer one with the stopper through it. The whole works as a toggle of sorts. All in all I've had no problems with this except for one freak occasion. During a tack and little loop left sticking beyond the stopper knot (which had at best a half-inch diameter) managed to catch exactly on a reefing horn (made of 7/16" bar) on the main's gooseneck. I could probably tack the same way under the same conditions a million other times and not have that happen but it did the once so I don't want to pass on the idea like it's flawless.
Oh and don't think that just because you have a roller furler you won't someday have to go forward and claw your sail down. The furling line could break, there may not be enough wraps on the drum, or any other of probably dozens of scenarios and chances are this will happen in BAD conditions which is the last time you want to be up there dodging a whipping shackle. Even if you don't necessarily rig or plan for the worst case scenario (due to sailing style or budget) you certainly want to acknowledge it as a possibility.

[Brian Duff]

A clove hitch , or even a Ring hitch , seem to hold fine even on jibs of up to 600 sq ft. Of course, given that you use a roller furler and likely do not change headsails often, I suggest splicing the sheets on for the very best attachment.

[Jim Fulton]

Based on previous comments in this forum, I started using buntline hitches to attach the genoa sheets to the clew. They're compact, easy to tie, and secure. They don't compromise the strength of the sheets as much as most other knots and hitches, and they rarely catch on anything when tacking. They do jam over the course of a season, but I can get them undone with a marling spike and a little patience.

Jim Fulton