Clew lashing

[Rebecca Bray]

Good Morning all. After 21 years of sailing with my Husband, I find myself preparing for the season alone as he passed away from cancer last year. We did everything together so I’m familiar with what needs to be done and the marina that we have been with all along has been wonderful. She’s in the water and I’ve managed to get everything done except for the clew lashing. I just can’t remember exactly how we did it. I always held the sail while he worked the lashing. I’ve done a search of the discussions and I think it was a simple rose lashing not the decorative variety. I can only find one drawing of it but I’m not confident that it’s the one or that I’ve done it correctly. If anyone could send along images or a link to a description of how to do a proper lashing that I can trust I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Rebecca Bray
“Tessa” N30C #11
Watch Hill, RI”

Sent from my iPhone

[Ernie Abugov N22 - #56 "Moustaches" Toronto]

Rebecca -

I won't lie. It was tough to read your post without tearing up .... even a little. Yes, I know that's not why you wrote but still ....  Regardless, I am certain that he is enjoying calm waters and fair winds and, hopefully, you will get some decent sailing in this season.

This is not very salty but all I do is haul the clew right back to the shackle that I tie it to, leave about a 2" gap (so's I can get a knife in and cut the lashing if I have to) and then tie it. Period.

I do not know how to do any particular traditional or proper "lashing" - I simply tie a succession of half-hitches (or... gulp .... granny knots) and then rue the day, in the fall, when I have to untie them. As I said, I end up with a "lashing" of sorts that is a few inches long. There seem to be a trillion different opinions of precisely, to the millimeter, how long the lashing should be.

I am really glad that folks in your marina are a decent lot and treat you well. That'll make a huge difference. Clearly, you know the boat which is terrific. Otherwise, I do hope that you'll have the company of a few others when you sail. Tessa does weigh a few pounds and is easier to muscle around with a crew.

Take care, eh ??!!

Ernie A. in Toronto

[alst...@aol.com]

Well done Rebecca !  We're all proud of you ! You Ernie, not so much, granny knots for Pete's sake ???

Alan Steward

MagnifiCat

Sent from the all-new AOL app for Android

On Sun., 5 Jun. 2022 at 12:46 p.m., Ernie Abugov N22 - #56 "Moustaches"  Toronto

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[Michael Jabara]

Rebecca, so sorry for your loss...

I used to use a SS shackle on the clew of the mainsail connected to a SS padeye bolted to my carbon fiber mast. However, on an unfortunate absent-minded gybe in a known 25 kt wind shift point around Angel Island, the force of the gybe blew the padeye apart.

I then made the decision to replace both with a soft 1/4" Dyneema homemade shackle through the clew and both holes of the boom. Rated for 8,600 lbs tensile strength. Been very happy ever since...

Here's a picture of a similar soft shackle...after putting the knotted end through the loop, you cinch up and close the loop end around the line. Very easy to loosen for your winter decommissioning and reuse in the spring as well...

Michael Jabara Proud INA Member

1995 NS 354 Hobbes II

San Rafael, California


 

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[Bob Neches (Me Gusta, Nonsuch 26U #233)]

Rebecca,

My sympathies also on the loss of your husband.

I too spent a lot of time on the internet trying and failing to find a good tutorial on lashings.   I came away feeling that for the purposes of a sail lashing, what matters most is that:

1. the line is strong enough, either in its own right or through the number of loops made between the sail clew and the boom end
2. the knot(s) used to secure it are unlikely to allow the line to loosen and slip
3. the length of the lashing is long enough that you have lots of room to pull the wishbone back when you want to tighten the choker, but not so long that a loose choker will allow the rubber bumpers at the front of the boom to get forward of the mast
   

There are many ways to do it that fit that bill.  

What I've typically done is wind a dyneema line around three times between the two points, or a low-stretch dacron line a few more times.   Whichever I'm using, I adjust it so there's one end of the line on one side and the other end on the other side.  I then tie a couple of half-hitches around all the line on both sides.  This sort of clamps the loops together.  Then on each side, I tie a closing half-hitch that goes not around all the looped line but just one of them.  Because the loops of line are squeezed together by the preceding half-hitches, they put friction on this last half-hitch that helps keep it from coming undone.

But, if you don't feel like tying knots, a 3 or 4 mm soft shackle like the one I just saw Michael Jabara recommending, which can be purchased for $25-30 USD, will be more than sufficient.  

There's lots of ways to do it.   In the course of debating the "best" way to do things, we sometimes make sailing sound harder than necessary.  Good enough really is good enough. 

Hope you have a great sailing season.

Best wishes,

-- Bob

   Me Gusta

   Nonsuch 26U #233

[Bill M]

Rebecca,

I use a soft shackle and it works fine. I've made a bunch of them for various things and here's a link to the instructions I use: https://l-36.com/soft_shackle_howto.php   Your very local to me and I probably have one laying around if you don't want to have the fun of making your own.

Bill Mortensen

NS30U Summer Song

Noank, CT