snap shackles (vs) regular shackles ?

[Navi2016]

for halyards ( main and mizzen ), I usually see shackles with a keeper, why don't folks use snap shackles

Thanks, Navi

[Stumble]

Snap shackles are a tradeoff. They aren't as secure or as strong as a D shackle, but they are much much easier to use. So for headsails thattraditionally need to be changed regularly snap shackles are a better option. On a main where it really doesn't need to come off very often a D shackle is its better option.

These days I use soft shackles for all of them though. Stronger, lighter, and much cheaper.

[UNCIVILIZED]

On racing boats, snap shackles were the norm on headsails until recently. Now there are a plethora of options. But snap shackles were used due to headsails (jibs, & kites) being changed quite frequently, so speed & ease of use was the priority. Where screw pin shackles, with retained pins, were the norm for mains. And to some degree they still are on mains, though it depends on the headboard configuration. Since some headboards have fairly sharp edges, thus precluding using soft shackles, & a few other types.

[zeehag]

i watched the snapshackles on my sons jensen wenk 24 fail in a shipping channel approaching lost angeles at just before dusk. had i not been herding him from marina del rey with a powerboat, he would never have made it home.
fact is snapshackles fail
have fun with em. i refuse to have any on my boats.

[MarkJ]

On a cruising boat where the snap shackle maybe in the salt air for years the spring inside rusts. This could lead to a failure at a baaaaaaaaad time.

[thomm225]

My boat had a snap shackle on the jib halyard when I bought it so I kept using it. (I had never had one on any of my other boats .................all beach cats for racing)

My boat has roller furling so the jib didn't get removed much.

Last year while sailing along, the jib suddenly started coming down.

The snap shackle had bent somehow and opened allowing the jib to come down and leaving the upper portion of the furler along with the halyard at the top of the mast.

I was able to get the halyard down by whipping it which allowed the weight of the upper furler section to bring it down. The snap shackle was so bent that it would no longer latch closed

I then used some leech line to reconnect the sail to the roller furl section and then raised the sail back up

[Cheechako]

Most the racing boats I was on had snap shackles. I prefer something more simple and secure for cruising.

[Cotemar]

We have always had better luck using Wichard Key Shackles.

[Tkeeth]

I use the keyed shackle for main and soft shackles pretty much everywhere else

[jag39]

Originally Posted by Stumble

Snap shackles are a tradeoff. They aren't as secure or as strong as a D shackle, but they are much much easier to use. So for headsails thattraditionally need to be changed regularly snap shackles are a better option. On a main where it really doesn't need to come off very often a D shackle is its better option.

These days I use soft shackles for all of them though. Stronger, lighter, and much cheaper.

Ditto on the soft shackles.

[hamburking]

Snap shackles just aren't as reliable as a regular shackle.
They tend to open, all by themselves, when the wind blows hard...exactly the time you definitely don't want them to open all by themselves.

[meirriba]

I am using several snapshackles on our Nacra 6.0 beach cat for yhe last 25 years (4 boats in succession). E.g. 2 units for mainsheet blocks, 2 units for the jib sheets on the deck.
My experience is very simple: the snapshackles are excellent and easy to use solution.
However - they need constant atention.
Every time the rig is set up we check the state of the shackle, i.e. - any corrosion, health of the spring and whether the pin is properly closed when deployed.
I do not remember a single failure!
However, lately, we have started to use soft shackles wherever applicable.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by meirriba

I do not remember a single failure!
However, lately, we have started to use soft shackles wherever applicable.

I guess we average a couple of spinnaker sheet snap shackles letting go every season. It generally happens when the helm or trimmer stuffs up and the clew flogs. (Of course, it's never me )

[Stumble]

I have had more than a couple snap shackles pop open, as well as quite a few that just broke. I simply do not trust them to do the job. They may have been the best option for a long time, but soft attachments are just easier and better.

Right now my preferred option is a sliding eye splice in the line, with a diamond knot luggage tagged to the ring (that stays permanently in place). The sliding eye is faster and easier to open than standard soft shackles, and other than needing to make a bunch of diamond knots doesn't take that much time to make.

[barnakiel]

We have a snap shackle on the main. Not sure why people do not use them more often. Maybe some sort of sailing taboo or something.

Otherwise I think as long as the shackle can be opened and closed easily with one hand and if it is self-open-proof, any shackle style will do. You can actually tie the halyard on the headboard as well.

Cheers,
b.