Tying handle loops onto the sail adjustment lines

LETLMT

Member
I am constantly reading about tying handle loops onto the end of all of my sail adjustment lines, but nowhere does it say how to make the nice handle loops with like a crochet type knot to keep it open. I saw one video and the person did it so fast I couldn't see what he was doing.

Where can I learn how to do this?
 
I am constantly reading about tying handle loops onto the end of all of my sail adjustment lines, but nowhere does it say how to make the nice handle loops with like a crochet type knot to keep it open.
Don't believe everything you read. Or see :rolleyes:

You're probably not going to listen to this advice (few do), but here goes anyway: the braided-loop handles are an anachronism. They hail from a time when you weren't allowed to reinforce the loops; they are a waste of rope, too, and I find them just plain ugly as well. Moreover, if you really need any kind of handle in a control line, it basically means that you don't have enough purchase in that system: the only place on the Laser where this is limited is the traveller.

IF you're going to make a loop handle and want something to hold it open, get some plastic tube through which the rope just fits and use it to stiffen a simple bowline knot.

_
 
Interesting. I thought the handles were there to make the line easier to grab, not to make it easier to pull harder.
 
I thought the handles were there to make the line easier to grab, not to make it easier to pull harder.
The whole point of a handle is that you don't need to squeeze the line as hard so it doesn't slip through your hand. You can therefore pull it harder.

Systems which need handles are typically "underpowered" either by rule or by choice. For example, the 470 class rules used to limit the mast pullers to 2:1, so everybody has a handle there. And in the same class, spinnaker halyard systems are rigged with the purchase the "wrong" way in order to hoist faster, so there you use a handle again.

In the Laser, I don't have a handle in my 15:1 vang, but I've been thinking about cutting down to a 12:1 (less line to pull at the leeward mark), which just might justify having one. Have to test it next summer.

_
 
Last edited:
Yes, most sailors use too much line. A simple plastic tube is better and you simply cut away what you don't need.

A tip: use different, contrasting colours for the control lines. E.g. like I've installed on my son's boat: orange for the outhaul, lime for the downhaul and grey for the kicker/vang. It's easier to recognise the correct line when you're in a heated battle around near the buoy.
 
I am constantly reading about tying handle loops onto the end of all of my sail adjustment lines, but nowhere does it say how to make the nice handle loops with like a crochet type knot to keep it open. I saw one video and the person did it so fast I couldn't see what he was doing.

Where can I learn how to do this?

Nice video (from APS); many sailors refer to a handle like that as a daisy chain. But, like many others, I tie a simple bowline for the handle.
More than you wanted to know:
Chain sinnet - Wikipedia
 
All my lines are cut to max ease and with about an inch extra. I tied bowlin's in my vang purchase just to make it easier to get a finger through for a quick release or ad tension.
 
why should we act differently
Because we can do better. Seriously! Like I always tell the kids (and everyone else), never blindly copy successful sailors, because you can't be sure whether they're successful because they do something in a certain way, or despite that. You always have to think for yourself and ask the opposite, "why should I/we act similarly?"

_
 
Because we can do better. Seriously! Like I always tell the kids (and everyone else), never blindly copy successful sailors, because you can't be sure whether they're successful because they do something in a certain way, or despite that. You always have to think for yourself and ask the opposite, "why should I/we act similarly?"

_
Fully agree. If you only do exactly what the top guys are doing, the best you'll ever achieve is getting close to them, you'll never beat them. You need to think for yourself to do it better than them.
 
Wow from a '... guys I have a question about control lines' to posting to a motivational speech '...how to become the best' (paraphrasing) in 12 posts. ;)

Using a full set of 3 plastic pieces of tubing has a disadvantage: Only the vang's can stay on, the others need to come off/on every time you (de-)rig the boat: you can't feed the line + tubing through the blocks on the deck. There's a fair chance that you'll lose the plastic handle.
 
Wow from a '... guys I have a question about control lines' to posting to a motivational speech '...how to become the best' (paraphrasing) in 12 posts. ;)

Using a full set of 3 plastic pieces of tubing has a disadvantage: Only the vang's can stay on, the others need to come off/on every time you (de-)rig the boat: you can't feed the line + tubing through the blocks on the deck. There's a fair chance that you'll lose the plastic handle.

Or you can rig the lines backwards/the opposite direction you would normally leaving the pre-tied plastic tubes on.
 
Wow from a '... guys I have a question about control lines' to posting to a motivational speech '...how to become the best' (paraphrasing) in 12 posts. ;)
Oh, we could do even better. Maybe in only 2 posts :D

Using a full set of 3 plastic pieces of tubing has a disadvantage: Only the vang's can stay on, the others need to come off/on every time you (de-)rig the boat: you can't feed the line + tubing through the blocks on the deck. There's a fair chance that you'll lose the plastic handle.
As I said, I don't think you need them in the first place for systems other than the traveller and possibly the vang. I always leave the outhaul line in the deck cleat and block when unrigging, and as Rob said, you can do the same for the cunningham, too. As for losing the tubes, they're cheap and you should keep a few pre-cut spares anyway.

_
 

Back
Top