HM fuzzy single braids

one of my current set ups (that I like the best) is Amsteel tapered to Racing Sheet. The Racing Sheet holds up best to the extreme abuse I give it.

What size Racing Sheet? I currently use the 9.5mm salsa, but was thinking of trying a ~8mm on the next one.

8mm Racing Sheet spiced to
3/16" Amsteel sliced to
1/8" Amsteel.

I personally wouldn't go bigger than 8mm.

Thanks for the info.

Double taper...genius.

It seems like the 3/16" to 1/8" bury would suck. I've made plenty of soft shackles with the 1/8, and as long as I'm careful to keep the tape used to a very small amount it buries easily, but it seems like anything larger would have a real propensity for getting stuck. Maybe I should try a larger needle.

Do you remember how long the middle section is? Seems like at least half of it would be filled with the buries from the other two.

The larger salsa really isn't a problem in an unwieldy sense, as it's so soft and squishy. I even had someone tell me they thought it was too small, heh. However, it's so soft it seems to me that a smaller size wouldn't be any issue on the hands, AND it would probably run through the cleat/eyelet better over time. The 9.5 isn't getting frayed or snagged, but it does seem to be getting pretty 'fuzzy' around the spice, which is where it hits the eyelet when I sheet all the way in, which also comes with the most tension.

yurdle wrote: Thanks for the info.
Double taper...genius.

genius . . . yes
double taper . . . no
My bad. I told you wrong. The 1/8" is spliced to the traveler end of the Racing Sheet. The 1/8" is the spit tail. I use one sheet for the main and traveler. Very simple splice of the 1/8" into the 8mm Racing Sheet. Hard to describe in writing. A picture would help. I'll look to see if I have one.

As for the length of the 3/16", I start with it a little longer than expected. Rig the boat, sails, rake, everything. Attach the mainsheet, and load the piss out of it, measure distance from cleat to splice and remove that measurement plus about 5 or 6 inches. Make sense?

edited by: mummp, Jul 23, 2010 - 12:36 PM

Rob, my bury is only about 5-6" and it's a tapered bury. Very clean transition through the blocks.

I'll ad some pictures tonight . . .

edited by: mummp, Jul 23, 2010 - 12:29 PM

i had 8 mm (robline racing sheet) but found it was a bit small in real heavy air for my tastes... unfortunately they had no 9mm so i went to 10.. which is a bit fat for what i would want..

mummp wrote:
[quote=yurdle]Thanks for the info.
Double taper...genius.

genius . . . yes
double taper . . . no
My bad. I told you wrong. The 1/8" is spliced to the traveler end of the Racing Sheet. The 1/8" is the spit tail. I use one sheet for the main and traveler. Very simple splice of the 1/8" into the 8mm Racing Sheet. Hard to describe in writing. A picture would help. I'll look to see if I have one.

As for the length of the 3/16", I start with it a little longer than expected. Rig the boat, sails, rake, everything. Attach the mainsheet, and load the piss out of it, measure distance from cleat to splice and remove that measurement plus about 5 or 6 inches. Make sense?

edited by: mummp, Jul 23, 2010 - 12:36 PM

So the 1/8 is just brimmed into the end to add two tails? I've seen pics of the split tails. Does that allow you to sheet past center?

Sorry using phone and dictionary isn't the greatest. Brummeled.

Not sure I follow on finding the length but no matter. I just make both ends too long then adjust the location of the bowline on the block to suit until its right and trim the excess.

edited by: yurdle, Jul 23, 2010 - 01:59 PM

So the 1/8 is just brimmed into the end to add two tails? I've seen pics of the split tails. Does that allow you to sheet past center?

Technically, there is brummel involved, but the brummel is not involved in how it is spliced to the 8mm racing sheet. Hard to explain, but easy to do. I'll add the picture tonight.

The split tail does not allow you to sheet past center, just to get closer to center than a single anchoring point. The split tail is a one design feature on my boat and is common on the current formula boats like F18, F16, etc. Not many of the older boats have them nor do they need them.

Not many of the older boats have them nor do they need them.

Aye, I just manually grab mine, move it to center, and cleat it. I'm just curious why people have switched to the split version.

Here's my split tail splice. 1/8" Amsteel into 8mm Racing Sheet. If you want a close up detailed picture use this link:
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=75203&g2_imageViewsIndex=1
The reason the whole thing is small (short) is we don't want to cleat onto anything except the 8mm Racing Sheet, and we don't want to hinder the split as it enters the traveler. Said another way, you want the splice to fit between the traveler sheaves and the traveler cleat.

I went ahead and added a photo of a valuable splice used in a lot of applications, a buried tail taper. Double braid that transitions into a Dyneema core, Amsteel, etc. This is commonly used as a spinnaker halyard.
For a closeup use this link:
http://www.thebeachcats.com/index.php?module=pictures&g2_itemId=75207&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

edited by: mummp, Jul 24, 2010 - 08:08 AM

Thanks for all the advice and assistance. I just got in from a long day in high winds -- I'll try to understand the splices tomorrow.

=)