Plastic rings or rope???

James W.

Member
I see some sails attached to booms with the standard plastic rings and some attached by small pieces of rope individually hand tied. Cost may be one reason (rope is cheaper, especially if you have some old rope laying around). Also, won't the hard plastic rings make annoying clanking noise against metal booms?

Preferences? Why?

Thanks
James
 
It's not a matter of cost. Racers prefer line because it allows the sail to assume a slightly nicer shape.
The disadvantage of line are

Tedious to tie all the knots and
Tedious to get the sail off the spars (which is really better if you want to keep your sail in optimum shape)
The knots may become untied; the rings hardly ever (but they may break due to exposure to the elements)

PS: the line to tie the sail to the spars has to be small diameter and slippery.

For a casual sailor, it hardly matters
 
If you are racing, then you want to have a few key grommets tied on instead of using sail rings. Looser at the halyard location, the gooseneck. Tied at the head, tack and clew to minimize stretch/give. I also think ties will slide under load better than the sail rings. You can McLube the spars (except at the halyard and gooseneck) to aid adjustment of outhaul and cunningham.

I doubt high quality sail tie line is cheaper than plastic rings. See vectran 1/16" optimist sail tie line at APS. Use 1/8" at the corners for less stretch. Having just tied on a sail, it's lots of tying and takes some adjusting as the sail stretches and you see how she looks. I'm quite happy now that I'm sailing with it.

Kevin.
 
Thanks Wavedancer and Kevin!! Actually, I just ordered a set of rings from Intensity Sails.
Thanks for the good info.
James
 
I've actually used both rings and ties on my various boats through the years.... and see very little real difference between the two. Technically WaveD is right, but the performance gain is only felt while racing. Even then the gain is not realized until you have all of the more important trim adjustments set right. For a beginner, or a non-racer I don't think it makes any real difference at all. So.... use whatever you prefer. Personally, i like the rings. I'm lazy.
 
One other option is to lace on the sail with 1/8 inch line using a marlin hitch. That's how the boats were delivered in the 60s
Zip beach.jpg
 

Attachments

  • zip sail lace 2.jpg
    zip sail lace 2.jpg
    50.1 KB · Views: 83
  • zip sail lace.jpg
    zip sail lace.jpg
    109.6 KB · Views: 71
Another option for the laziest among us is to use Zip-ties from Home Depot. They are quick and VERY easy to put on. Unfortunately, they have to be cut to be removed..... but that is not a real problem for most recreational sailors.

Of course I can neither confirm or deny if I've ever used zip-ties... being the Sunfish purist that I am.... but I have heard that they work quite well in a pinch.
 
What kind of knot, a square knot with thin line pulls out right away:mad:
I have been using a 'knobby' kind of line (see http://www.apsltd.com/p-1985-sail-ties-vectran-double-length-kit-5-corner14-sail-ties.aspx) and the square knots hold pretty well. But with slippery line, a surgeon's knot has been recommended:
http://sailingforums.com/threads/tieing-the-sail.13539/#post-72967


That old thread has more than you ever wanted to know about tying the sail to the spars. My take is to 'keep it simple'.
 
Last edited:
I used a standard square (reef) knot and a little dab of quick set epoxy to keep the knots from coming untied. Works
well - no problems in 2 years use.

Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
 

Back
Top