This may have been addressed before, BUT.........
What type of knots do you use to attach the sheet to the boom, and blocks to the boom (or any other pipe/pole/round thing, etc...)? Is it better to have separate knots on the sheet, then the boom, or use one bigger looping thing through the sheet, and around the boom?
Half the time I just about have to cut the line in order to detach mine, so something not too hard to undo would be nice too
Cheers, John
There is just a few knots for a land sailor to know....
To tie a rope to a boom or other pole try a "Clove hitch"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clove_hitch
To tie a loop at the end of a rope a "Bowline" works well and doesn't jamb up
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowline
To attach pulleys to a boom etc a "Prusik Hitch"
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prusik
And to stop the end of a rope slipping through a pulley a "Figure 8 Knot" is ideal.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure-eight_knot_(ropes)
Ok! Not long finished my evening Meal and am as full as a Tick Hopefully I won't drop off
.
Prusik Hitch with a twist. It allows the knot to be put out of the way
The best all round knot is your common every day Bow Line once locked it is easy to undo and doesn't over tighten. Tying Blocks into place the only way is to tie a loop of the right size ie. fold a length of rope in half and wrap it around the boom at its attachment point, 3 or 4 times then leave enough excess to tie it in a loop by the following method. take the ends past each other forming a large loop, then take one end and loop it back over both lines then thread the end through the loop 4 times and pull carefully down until tight, turn the rope around and do the same with other end, now pull the main lines tight and cause both knots to slide snugly together
The main rope loop is formed, it is then drawn into a flat loop using the knot as the back of the loop. The end should be threaded through the Block Eye and back over the block to attach it. Now take this unit and lay it across the Boom, holding the knot and drop the block over it and draw it under the boom , up and through the loop this should be done 3 to 4 times. The last time through should be a fairly tight fit leaving the block dangling by a very short length with the Loop Knot against it. Look closely at pic's of Occums Razor. This attachment will allow you to slide the Block and Loop along the Boom to position it but when it is under load will not slide about.
Ron
I hope this isn't too complicated an explanation
Thanks!! You're right about the 'bowline' knot. I have used them to anchor sheet lines at their ends, and I can undo them
Now I need to look into the 'clove hitch' and the 'prusik hitch' and figure them out. It sounds like they may be exactly what I need. I don't suppose anyone has any close up pics of them in use..............
Gizmo is right on the money with them all being a must know if you dont want to spend hours undoing knots =P
Some other knot I have found useful are sheet bend and reef knots as well as a truckies hitch when you really need that strong downward force.
Also a few half hitches to tuck the stray rope away and add stability to Clove hitches (sometimes called Devil claws)
Then I would suggest all knots, tied properly, are valuable at some stage or another. However, again I repeat Bowline. If the knot is too bulky use a lighter rope. I use a 10mm Terylene Braided Cordage* (*Correct Term). Which is more than ample. For attaching Blocks and Tackle a 4mm Line is Ample at around 300lb BS (No Breaking Strain dummy). I have used the Bowline throughout the years for just about everything, hauling logs, towing vehicles, tying off Lines for climbing etc. I have never had one fail nor have I ever had problems when it came to untying it. The Bowline I will defend to the Death and have.
It isn't a wise practice to knot the end of any Line running through a Block as if it becomes Jammed then you have serious problems arising. If you must knot the end of your sheet I would suggest that you tie a simple overhand knot BUT do not take the end through the loop, Keep it back, forming a sliding loop this then can be pulled loose to allow the Sheet to run through the Block. Again a Sheet Line should never be Joined, always a single piece of rope. We were taught to Splice Ropes in the Armed Forces and that Tackle Lines should be Joined with a Tapered Splice so that it could run Freely through the Block being used. The Reason was if a load was drawn up to a joined line and it jammed you could be in a World of Crap, endangering Lives. This type of join was only ever used in an emergency when no other way was available as they were never as strong as the main running tackle.
Find one or two knots that are simple and quick to tie and stick with them the others are only needed now and again.
A method of tying off a Line at the Sail Clew, Tack or Head is to take the line threw the Eyelet and from a loose Overhand Knot about the Eyelet keeping around 2"-50mm of the end free, then you whip the main line and line end together to form a strong neat tie off. Whipping is a fairly Old Fashioned way but very secure and was generally used to seal off the end of a line to prevent the Twisted Rope from Fraying. With modern Cordage the technique is to Melt the Ends.
A modern method of forming a Loop in Braids if to Melt the line end and with wet fingers (Be Fast or get Burnt) roll the end between them to form a point. The line then is forced into compression which should cause it to bulge heavily and a Spike is pushed into the outer Braid to form a Hole into the line center where the pointed Line end is then pushed along the main body. the tapered end is worked along the inside of the Line an inch or two depending on thickness of cordage, then the line is stretched again, carefully to lock the whole thing. This style will form a very neat professional finish.
Ron
Ron
I had someone ask me how to tie a "Prusik Hitch", Its actually a climbers knot that grips a climbing rope, But it works VERY well to attach a loop on a boom. The use of glass or carbon fibre limits the way you fasten things to them. The Prusik Hitch grips all the way around and can be moved if required to change pulley positions.
The first step to tie a Prusik knot is to take the loop of cord and place it behind the main climbing rope.
The second step to tie a Prusik knot is to take the loop of cord behind the climbing rope and bring half of the loop through the other half of the loop and form a girth hitch. A girth hitch is a basic knot for attaching a sling or cord to any object, including a tree, piece of climbing gear, or, in this case, the climbing rope. Note that the knot in the small cord is on the outside of the hitch.
The third step to tie a Prusik knot is to bring the loop of cord back through the girth hitch on the climbing rope two to three more times, forming a barrel with the tail of the cord hanging out from the middle. This is simply done by wrapping the loop of cord through the inside of each previous wrap. After you're done wrapping the rope, tighten the knot and dress it by carefully arranging all the wraps of cord so they're next to each other and not crossed.
How many wraps of cord you put on the knot is up to you. Usually three is sufficient. The more wraps you put on, the more the Prusik knot will cinch onto the climbing rope. It's best, especially if you haven't used a Prusik knot much, to test the knot by weighting it. If it slips, add another wrap. If it's too hard to push up the rope, take away a wrap. If you leave the knot a bit loose, it is easier to slide up the rope.
www.liveabout.com/tie-and-use-a-prusik-knot-755674
Interesting to see the knots above
As has been mentioned the prusik hitch is a common climbers hitch
We used to use it all the time also in the dredging game for attaching a rope to a wire hawser under strain
The bowline has been called the king of knots with good reason one of the most useful of all
Nikrums drawing is called the Uni knot A very common versatile fishermans knot for joining two lines by using two of them back to back as he has shown or singly for joining line to hook thats why they call it the uni knot
The figure of eight for a stopper knot on a line another widely used one
The truckies hitch is very handy I use it a lot but I guess most people use those
newfangled ratchet thingies these days
The reef knot, everyone knows that one, a slipped form of which is used to tie shoelaces
Not that excited about the clove hitch in certain circumstances it can capsize in my experience and can be difficult to undo
Does anyone have any others for general use?
I often use the alpine butterfly; figure 8 on the bight, instead of bowline; prusik loop formed with doulble thumb knots, had to tie prusik loops one handed when I was in cliff rescue
The rolling hitch is good for dragging logs but more useful for attaching to another line and taking the load on that line to another point.
Probably not useful with landsailing but is very handy on a yacht for taking the load on a sheet for instance, to free up the tail of the sheet so it can be rerun through different blocks.
A butterfly found in mountainous regions. The alpine butterfly is tied in a rope to form a loop so that a load can be attached and hauled from either direction and keep the rope tight.
Holy moly!! I think I'll use the prusik hitch with the proper length piece to hook the blocks on the boom. looks like an easy one to adjust by just releasing the tension a bit.
Thanks again for all your help
OK! So the Loop Splice thing didn't work on modern Braided Cordage. It used to be good on the old Braided Nylon. I tried my damdest to get to work but to no avail. Other than tying a Bowline the only other way I can suggest is to take the Line through the Eyelet make a single half knot then Whip off the Tail along the Main Line, a lot of trouble that isn't really that necessary.
Ron
try this for the end of sheetrope. it allows you to go almost block to block, and puts the tail off to the side. I was a bowline man until I was shown one of these
for the rest of the boom pulleys this is as simple as it gets
I guess its two knots really A figure of eight knot on the end and then a half hitch
Looks a good idea in that application to me
It is actually a thumb knot, with a thumb knot as a stopper knot. As they are only on the final pulley, they have relatively little pressure on them, and even after a hard day on wet salt where the salt dries out in the rope, these knots are easy to undo. Also I have never had them work loose whilst sailing.
And the final one shown, is also used by ice yachters to do the same job, and they have a wee problem called cold to cope with when de-rigging! Prussic hitch is what I was trying to describe some posts back. I have been using this to attach blocks for many years (40+), light, adjustable, and best of all CHEAP.
If you are good enough to know where the blocks go without ever wanting to adjust their position, you are way better than me. Hell, I only earned my living for a good few years building water yachts of all kinds, deck consultant for all sorts of racing yachts up to 12m (yes the AC type boats) and well over 100 landyachts, and NONE have ever had the first shot of gear position left alone, performance, personal preference, and a host of other variables make these changes needed. I wonder why all the racing yachts have adjustable positions for sheet blocks etc
Yes all knots have their uses, but the initial query was "what do we use on landyachts!"
I always (despite the very knowledgable Nikrum post), use a figure of eight on the mainsheet, but again always don't tie it at the end, I leave enough tail to still be able to grab it while seated. That of course assumes that you have the sheet rope long enough to be able to let it out as far as you might ever need. But "assume" means..
The Prusik Hitch was what I was referring to as well though my version would be a little neater and does look good as there are no loose ends and the Block end of the loop lays firmly against the Knot. When it is all said and Done and has just been displayed in this Thread "Knots" we all have our own personal favorites which usually amount to a few tried and true variations. The trick is to try them all and then use those most suited to your purposes.
There is a very good reason for not using Fixed Knots when it comes to Lines running through Runners/Eyes/Guides etc. That is that when it comes to Clean use a Knot can and will jam and if you are relying on freedom of movement to prevent capsize. Yesterday I found that in damp conditions that a Sheet Line will twist up badly (Especially Braided Line), which when dropped into the LY can then further twist itself into a Mares Nest of Kinks and Pig Tails and will to run freely through a Block or Eye.
No there was no catastrophe but there could well have been.
It is a funny thing that there are so many processes we go through in life purely under Automatic action and give it no thought until something goes wrong. If you doubt me the pick a simple daily task. Now break it down into what you think are it's basic components. Good now go back through it and break those component parts down again, you will be surprised just how complicated it is and needs no real through, normally, to get through.
Ron
""Yesterday I found that in damp conditions that a Sheet Line will twist up badly (Especially Braided Line), which when dropped into the LY can then further twist itself into a Mares Nest of Kinks and Pig Tails and will to run freely through a Block or Eye.""
I was using cheap 10mm braided rope up at Lake Lefroy and had this trouble as well. Had to constantly relay it back in between my legs so it wasn't tangled.
The 12mm dyneema (that has never tangled) that I bought at $5.60 per/mtr wouldn't fit through my ratchet block. so had to change back to 10mm cheap stuff. (local boat shop only had 3mtrs of 10mm in stock at the time.)
Budget stuff is only tie down rope for a trailer really, as the weekend sailing proved. It now has more fluff along it than the neighbour's cat and lies about as straight as well.
At the end of the day, you gets what ya pay for.
I know I'm soft, but I have trouble with carpal tunnel syndrome, so have to look after the wrists.
The local boat shop, has promised me that the 8.3mtrs of 10mm dyneema will be in next week.
And put the sheet rope in the washing machine with your sailing clothes and some fabric softener 
just don't tell the wife!
Hell yeah makes them much easier on the hands, even just a wash in the machine gets rid of a lot of ingrained grit and dirt.
Then Giz' old boy I shall just have to throw mine in when the Old Chook isn't looking.
Ron
