asym rigging
 

I am interested in the asym setup that has two sheets run to a pigtail that is attached to the clew of the sail.
(see www.layline.com for a picture, if needed)

Since my boat is not really designed for an asym (it is a 1987 C&C 35 MK III, pre-asym days), what is the best length for the pigtail?

I see that J105s use 18"-36". Any experience out there say they should be longer? shorter? toward the long end? toward the short end?

Also, if you use spectra or some other 12-braid for the pigtail, does it take easily to knots like a bowline to attach it to the clew of the sail? or should I just put a small snap shackle on the end of the pigtail? or a spool shackle?

Thanks,
Keith

Tail length
 

I have used tails 2-3' long on conventional boats.

I would splice the tail and use a spool-like shackle. Hi-Mod does not like knots, and the spools are nice and light.

You will be somewhat limited in length if you use conventional 12-strand eye splices. Consider using multiple brummels with as much bury as you can get. You could splice up a grommet, but then you are dragging two parts around the headstay/sail.

Bob

OK.

I googled brummel splice, and got a link to NE Ropes on how to do that.

What is a "grommet" in the sense of a spliced eye? is it where you just insert the bitter end of the line into the "core" of the single braid (really where a core would be if it had one) and bury the tail there? Normally when I think "grommet", I think about the metal ring around the hole in a piece of cloth (like the corner of a tarp, or teh clew of a sail.) After I understand that, I am sure you comment about "two parts around the headstay" will make more sense.

So, in the end, what are the relative merits of the following splices in a 12-strand like Amsteel:

Lock stitch splice (as shown on N.E. Ropes website)

Brummel splice (also, NE website)

Grommet splice (whatever this turns out to be)

Thanks
- M

12-strand splicing
 

A grommet is a continuous circular loop -- two ends of piece of rope are spliced to each other.

Expanding on my point of potentially not having enough length to do a conventional eye splice on each end, say you use 1/4" Amsteel for the short line. A conventional brummel eye splice, like the one on NE Ropes, calls for a bury length of at least 72 diameters (and prefereably a bit more). This would mean a bury length of 72 * .25, or 18". So, you would have say 2 2" eyes, 2 1" brummels, and 2 18" buries -- leaving you with a minimum length of about 42" -- probably longer than what you want.

To shorten things up, you can either just do one splice -- the end-for-end grommet splice -- resulting in a continuous loop, a grommet. Or, you need to lessen the length of the required buries -- by doing multiple brummels you can get by with a shorter bury length.

Your best bet is to get Brion's splicing field guide, the only place I know of where either of these splices are documented.

Good luck,

Bob