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Thread: DIY Rigging Hacks

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    59

    Default DIY Rigging Hacks

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    I wanted to report back on this attachment that I made for my genoa (a 125.) I really like the idea of it - elegant, light, diy, and easy to remove. A little bulky, but it worked great the first time two times I used it (Berkeley Jan midwinters and the 3BF.) Why did I chose this among the jib attachment options I have seen out there? Well, I don't like the look of soft shackles (silly prejudice of mine), I wanted to avoid having any hardware on the clew (which excludes dog bones and spools), and I wanted to be able to change sheets pretty easily (which eliminates luggage tagging the lines.) I also considered splicing my two sheets into a single eye, which is kinda interesting, but I have assumed that's too advanced to do myself (also a requirement; doing your own rigging is a nice way to get into a sailing "mind palace"). There's also a nifty product out there called a t clewring (all you need is a loop and sheets with eye splices.) But too late, my sails were already cut. (And perhaps that's a bit heavy on a small boat like mine.) Of course, I know the good old fashioned bowline does the trick (that's what I had been using for a while). It's just that it's bit bulky and gets caught on my shrouds fairly often.

    So anyway, the reason for my post: I couldn't leave good enough alone. Although this new attachment worked fine in two races, it used up all the space in the clew ring. I couldn't put a reefing hook into it, which made it impossible to use my reaching/changing sheet. That's a big ding against it if I'm going to be changing headsails or trying to get an extra bit of speed on a long reach.

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    So, I tapered the line back four or five feet (that was a new one for me), eye spliced the exposed core (brummel splice with one end fixed; also a first), and then tried the whole arrangement again during last weekend's Berkeley midwinters. I was a little nervous about it because the core of the line (yale 3/8" maxi braid plus) is really "wooly" - it seems to catch on everything. It's also kinda slippery. Sure enough one of the sheets slipped loose this weekend (fortunately, before the start.) I tied a couple of bowlines and sailed on, but that was the end of that experiment. In addition, the exposed core got totally frayed against the shrouds -- the ends of the sheets looked like they were ready to retire by the end of the race.

    So I am back to the drawing board. I will probably just switch to a soft shackle -- which I plan to make myself because who wants to pay $30 for something when there are tons of youtube videos on how to make your own? There's nothing like holing yourself up in the garage with a good bourbon, some music, some cool-looking tools and a lighter!
    Last edited by 255grizzly; 02-16-2016 at 12:09 PM.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Berkeley Marina
    Posts
    154

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    Quote Originally Posted by 255grizzly View Post
    There's nothing like holing yourself up in the garage with a good bourbon, some music, some cool-looking tools and a lighter!
    Swap "garage" for "boat cabin with a heater during a rainstorm" and I couldn't agree more. Proper marlinspikesmanship (or whatever the word is) has been highly correlated with El Niņos, at least on my boat.
    Still trying to get basic whippings right; yours look really good!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
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    59

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    On the rigging front, soft shackles are the bomb! I figured out how to make them thanks to APS. The only hard part is the diamond knot (APS' video doesn't quite capture it, you may want to try this video from Premium Ropes for that part), but with some patience and some extra line, you'll figure it out. The shackle worked like a charm on my eye-spliced jib sheets, below. The velcro is something I had for gripping electric cables.

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    Last edited by 255grizzly; 02-29-2016 at 10:34 PM.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Saratoga
    Posts
    336

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    L-36.com has some soft shackle videos you might enjoy...

    http://l-36.com/soft_shackles.php?menu=4

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Posts
    59

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    Quote Originally Posted by Intermission View Post
    L-36.com has some soft shackle videos you might enjoy...

    http://l-36.com/soft_shackles.php?menu=4
    Wow, awesome! I'm going to have to spend some time there... thank you!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Posts
    3,688

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    I've been having trouble with my splices. Even with four guys helping me it has still been a struggle. Maybe it's the materials I'm using.

    Attachment 1394

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    96

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    BobJ,

    To paraphrase the immortal words of Roy Scheider: If those are your soft shackles, you're going to need a bigger boat.

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