{"id":151125,"date":"2024-04-15T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-15T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?p=151125"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:17:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T13:17:08","slug":"an-expert-guide-to-safe-line-handling-at-sea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/expert-sailing-techniques\/an-expert-guide-to-safe-line-handling-at-sea-151125","title":{"rendered":"An expert guide to safe line handling at sea"},"content":"Chafe on sails and ropes is something we should expect as part of the general wear and tear on passage, but equally it is something we can protect against. Here are some ideas for keeping your own boat chafe-free:\r\n

Sacrificial covers<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nThink smart about where chafe is going to occur as often it will be in specific, predictable places: halyard exits, clutches or any hard points that a rope needs to go around such as reefing cringles.\r\n\r\nIn many cases you will see wear in these hot spots while the rest of the rope stays untouched. Rather than repairing after chafe has occurred, think about setting up your running rigging to include sacrificial covers or tails that will leave the main line undamaged and can be replaced as part of your maintenance routine.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below...<\/em>\r\n\r\n
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\r\n\r\nI use sacrificial tails for the outboard ends of my reefing lines. These are Dyneema strops that loop the boom and are then lashed onto the reefing line. When the reef is in place and under tension the Dyneema strop takes the load from the boom through the reefing cringle, where it is quite common for chafe to occur.\r\n\r\nThe strops are easy to make and replace and will greatly extend the life of your reefing lines. Note that they need to be just the right length to sit through the cringle when the reef is in but not so long that they reach the sheaves in the end of the boom.\r\n\r\nI also use Cordura covers on any ropes that I know will be under significant load or prone to moving around at different angles: For example the top half metre of my spinnaker halyards and the last metre of the 2:1 tack line for my Code 0.\r\n\r\nThis is a quick and easy job for a rigger to do and covers can be replaced each season rather than discarding the rope. You can also use sacrificial covers to protect halyards from clutch damage, and spinnaker sheets from rubbing against shrouds.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_125215\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"reduce-chafe-pip-hare-sailing-tips-hardware\" Hardware can suffer the effects of chafe too[\/caption]\r\n

Deck gear<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIf a particular part of a rope is regularly chafing then that could be an indication that some of your deck gear is damaged, or that there is misalignment in the system. Don\u2019t ignore these signs as this situation will only get worse. Regularly walk the deck, looking for damage, checking for bad leads, or misaligned purchases.\r\n\r\nIn particular, check blocks for loose or damaged sheaves, ensure all split pins and rings are taped and look for any pinch points where sails or ropes may get trapped and damaged. These often occur aloft, where diagonals and shrouds terminate at a spreader end.\r\n\r\nThese areas can be protected using a short length of line or tight elastic, tied between the two stays just above the pinch point, which should act as a deflector to stop any sails from dropping into that area.\r\n\r\nCheck alignment between mast blocks, deck organisers and clutches, pay attention to the height of deck gear as well; a rope going into a clutch or deck organiser at the wrong height will over time damage both the line and the deck hardware itself.\r\n

Halyards<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nIf using a 2:1 halyard beware of over-hoisting as this can result in your top block being pulled into the top of the mast and damaging both the mast sheave and the block itself. Mark the halyard with a whipping (one that can be also be seen in the dark) to show maximum hoist.\r\n\r\nOn longer passages<\/a> think about moving halyards by small amounts each day to avoid constant wear from clutches and mast sheaves in the same place. If easing the main halyard then rig up a Cunningham to control luff tension instead.\r\n\r\nCheck your forward halyards before every hoist, and every evening in case they are needed overnight; halyards twisted around furling gear or rubbing against each other are prime areas for chafe.\r\n\r\nCheck all high load areas regularly throughout longer voyages. When spinnakers come up and down make a point of checking the top half metre for signs of wear, the same with tack lines.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_125216\" align=\"alignnone\" width=\"1200\"]\"reduce-chafe-pip-hare-sailing-tips-reef-strop\" Dyneema sacrificial tails on reefing lines[\/caption]\r\n

Chafe to sails<\/strong><\/h3>\r\nWhen fitting a new main ensure that you apply spreader patches from the very beginning. These are patches of sticky Dacron that will need to be stuck onto both sides of the mainsail where it naturally lies on the spreaders.\r\n\r\nIf you are fitting these yourself chose a windless day; hoist the main and then send someone up in a bosun\u2019s chair with a marker pen to indicate where the spreaders are. Don\u2019t forget reefed positions as well.\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s normal for sails to experience some wear at the spreaders because they do lie naturally against the rig when sailing downwind. To minimise damage, try not to let the main out so far that the sail \u2018bends\u2019 itself around the spreader ends by using more vang downwind to keep the top of the mainsail from falling down to leeward. If this makes the helm heavy then reef early.\r\n\r\nEvery time you take or shake a reef, ensure the mainsail is clear of the spreaders. To achieve this when sailing downwind, over-sheet the jib and then steer a couple of degrees higher than your downwind course. As soon as there is airflow across the jib it will be channelled directly into the back of the mainsail and keep it off the spreaders.\r\n\r\nSpinnakers move around a lot more than any other sail and so must be regularly checked to ensure they\u2019re not rubbing on the rig, and that loaded sheets and guys are not chafing against hard surfaces. In particular watch out for the guy against a furled headsail if reaching \u2013 a loaded guy can burn through a UV strip in no time.\r\n\r\nFirs published in the February 2020 edition of Yachting World.<\/em>","excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boats may have nine lives, but a sailor is not supposed to have nine fingers. Every year, however, we hear of instances of crushed hands, lost fingers, and major damage from poor line handling techniques. Technological advances have greatly reduced the amount of sail and line handling required of today\u2019s sailors. Sail areas are increasingly concentrated in a few, large sails, rather than broken up into several smaller ones. Hydraulic furlers, asymmetric spinnakers, in-mast reefing and self-tacking headsails all mean that we need less rope to manage our sails. In fact, rope is notable in its absence from the sleek cockpits of new yachts, which can often seem like a lines-free area. The risk of this is that out of sight can mean out of mind and, while the amount of line handling on modern yachts has decreased, the loads on those remaining lines has not. Line handling is an essential skill for keeping yourself, and others, safe. As skippers, it\u2019s something we should be talking about more often, especially whenever we have novice crew on board. I asked other sailors for their thoughts and was surprised by the strength of their responses: everyone had a story to tell. Respecting the loads \u201cA loaded line\u201d, the former skipper of the 125ft Fife Mariquita, Jim Thom told me, \u201cis like a loaded gun. They\u2019re silent until they go off.\u201d It reminded me of an incident aboard an 80ft maxi I\u2019d once worked on as a deckhand. The genoa sheet blew without warning, and it did, indeed, sound as though we were under fire. The sail flogged violently until we tacked and took on the other sheet. Fortunately, no one was on the leeward side deck at the time. The speed and ferocity with which it happened have stayed with me and to this day I\u2019m never comfortable with anyone standing near loaded lines. Understand the power when line handling A winch magnifies your effort by whatever ratio they\u2019re designed for. A modest 50:1 winch will output 1,250kg to the line for the 25kg you (or the batteries) apply to it. That\u2019s about the same as the weight of a VW Golf which, if it was actually attached to the other end of your halyard rather than the mainsail, would certainly focus the mind. Novice crew won\u2019t know how much pressure to apply to a winch and will need supervision. experienced sailors transitioning to larger boats may not understand the loads involved and overexuberance with a winch can prove catastrophic. One cruising sailor, who had decided to charter a larger than normal yacht in the Med, applied their beginning of holiday joie-de-vivre to a halyard winch and brought the mast down, somewhat curtailing their charter. Winch technique Winch handling technique needs to be revisited as the size of yacht you are sailing increases. Inexperienced crew need detailed winch briefings and demonstrations. Standing sideways onto a winch with hands in a closed fist, little finger towards the load, gives the strongest stance. Three …Continue reading »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4392,"featured_media":151138,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[975,977],"tags":[934,1633],"review_manufacturer":[],"acf":[],"introduction":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151125"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4392"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151125"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151359,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151125\/revisions\/151359"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151125"},{"taxonomy":"review_manufacturer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review_manufacturer?post=151125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}