One Jib Sheet or Two?

[thinwater]

Many dinghies, beach cats, and sport boats us a continuous sheet in a different sense; the sheet runs from clew, through tackle, and back to the clew as a single sheet that can be pulled from either end.


Anyone do this on a boat larger than a dinghy? switched to this on my last cruising cat and it worked very well, although the reasons won't apply to most boats (A wide cockpit meant that I didn't need to walk to the other side when tacking, center cockpit meant the sheet ran behind, not through the cockpit). Also no tangling and less to coil.

[roverhi]

Originally Posted by thinwater

Just for the record, a Brummell only splice is about the same strength as a knot. Without the bury it is not a splice, it is a knot with a lot of potential for internal movement. It was not designed for this purpose and there have been failures in this and similar Y-strop applications. One problem is that the knot must shift every time the direction of loading is reversed, increasing wear.

Sheets are not sized for load but hand comfort in almost all cases. Strength of the knot/splice really doesn't matter as the lines are typically way over size for the load. The Brummell knot, if you will, has worked fine for me including a TransPac. Doubt if any of your cautions would apply to a sheet on a typical sailboat. I'm just glad the splice doesn't hang up on the shrouds as that was a major safety issue with bowlines single handed tacking out the Alameda/Oakland estuary with it's traffic jam of sail and power boats on the weekends mixed in with the more than occasional container ship.