Prerequisites
This is the first practical lesson of the RYA Competent Crew course, and it assumes no previous sailing experience. To get the most from it you should:
- Be at least 16 years old for the standard Competent Crew certificate (some centres run adapted courses for 12 to 15 year olds).
- Have completed the RYA medical declaration and be fit enough to move around a moving yacht and handle ropes under load.
- Know the basic directional words: bow (front), stern (back), port (left, facing forward), starboard (right, facing forward). Everything else is introduced here.
- Ideally have a 2 m length of 10 mm rope at home. Knots are learned with the hands, not the eyes; you will need to practise between sessions.
Learning Objectives
By the end of this lesson you should be able to do the following. Each item is tied to the RYA Competent Crew practical syllabus (Sail Cruising Scheme), under the headings Boat Handling and Seamanship ("rope work: tying essential knots; handling lines: coiling, securing to cleats, operating winches safely") and Anchoring and Mooring ("fender and warping line management").
- RYA syllabus item: identify rope types and choose the right one for a job. Recognise three-strand laid and braided rope and the main materials (polyester, nylon, polypropylene, Dyneema), and inspect a line for damage.
- RYA syllabus item: coil and stow lines. Coil and stow three-strand and braided rope so that it runs free when next needed, and flake a sheet or halyard tail.
- RYA syllabus item: tie the essential knots. Tie, without looking and under load, the figure-of-eight, bowline, clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches, rolling hitch, sheet bend, reef knot and cleat hitch.
- RYA syllabus item: explain what each knot is for and how it fails, and name the better knot when it is the wrong choice.
- RYA syllabus item: secure lines to cleats and operate winches safely. Make fast to a horned cleat, take turns on a winch, tail a sheet, and clear an override.
- RYA syllabus item: fender and warping line management. Rig fenders at the right height, and rig and handle bow lines, stern lines and springs when berthing.
- Recognise and describe an eye splice and a sailmaker's whipping, and say why splices and whippings are used.
- RYA syllabus item: work safely with lines. No wraps around hands, fingers clear of cleats and winch drums, never standing in a bight.
Why Ropework Matters
If one skill separates a useful crew member from a passenger, it is confidence with rope. Every job on a yacht runs through rope: hoisting sails (halyards), trimming them (sheets), reefing (reefing lines), mooring (warps and springs), hanging fenders, towing, and, if the worst happens, recovering someone from the water. The skipper will call for a knot by name and expect it tied in seconds, correctly, while the boat moves and people are talking to you.
There are three questions you should be able to answer about every knot you tie:
- What is it for? A stopper, a fixed loop, a hitch to an object, a bend joining two ropes, or a binding knot.
- How does it fail? Every knot has a weakness: some slip, some jam, some capsize.
- How do I untie it? A knot that cannot be untied after loading may need to be cut, which on a yacht means losing an expensive line at the worst moment.
A useful vocabulary before we start:
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Standing part | The long, inactive part of the rope, usually the part taking the load |
| Working end | The end you are moving to tie the knot |
| Tail | The short end left sticking out of a finished knot |
| Bight | A U-shaped fold in the rope that does not cross itself |
| Loop | A turn where the rope crosses itself |
| Turn | One pass of rope around an object |
| Round turn | Two passes around an object, so the rope fully encircles it |
| Hitch | A knot that attaches a rope to an object (rail, post, another rope) |
| Bend | A knot that joins two ropes together |
| Lay | The direction of twist in laid rope |
Rope Construction and Materials
The rope in your hand dictates which knot behaves well and how it must be coiled, so start by looking at it.
Three-Strand Laid Rope
Three-strand rope is the traditional construction: three bundles of fibre twisted together in a spiral. Almost all three-strand rope is right-hand laid: looking along it, the strands spiral away from you clockwise. The diagram below shows the cross-section and the lay direction.
Its advantages are that it is cheap, hard-wearing, easy to splice by hand, and relatively stretchy. That stretch makes it the classic choice for mooring warps and anchor warps, where elasticity absorbs the snatch of waves and gusts instead of transmitting it to cleats and fittings. Its disadvantage is that it has a built-in twist: coil it the wrong way and it develops kinks and hockles that jam in blocks and fairleads.
Braided Rope
Braided rope (usually "double braid" or "braid-on-braid") has an inner core that carries most of the load, protected by a woven outer sheath. The diagram below shows the core-and-sheath structure.
Braided rope runs smoothly through blocks, clutches and winches, is kind to the hands, has no natural twist and stretches less than three-strand. Most modern sheets and halyards are braided. It is harder to splice by hand and must be coiled differently (see below).
Materials
| Material | Key properties | Typical use aboard |
|---|---|---|
| Polyester (Terylene, Dacron) | Strong, low stretch, good UV resistance, does not float | Sheets, halyards, general running rigging |
| Nylon (polyamide) | Strong and very stretchy, absorbs shock, does not float | Anchor warps, mooring lines, tow lines |
| Polypropylene | Cheap, light, floats, poor UV resistance, slippery | Dinghy painters, heaving lines, lifebuoy lines |
| Dyneema / Spectra (HMPE) | Extremely strong for its weight, almost no stretch, slippery | High-performance halyards, lashings |
Rules of thumb:
- Stretch is good where loads snatch (mooring, anchoring, towing): use nylon.
- Stretch is bad where shape matters (halyards, sheets): use polyester or Dyneema.
- Floating is good near propellers and in rescue: a floating line is less likely to wrap a prop and stays visible for a person in the water.
- Slippery ropes hold knots badly. Dyneema in particular may need extra tucks or a different knot. Leave longer tails.
A knot typically reduces a rope's breaking strength by 30 to 50 per cent, because the rope is bent sharply inside the knot. A well-made splice keeps close to the full strength. That is why permanent eyes on mooring lines are spliced rather than tied.
Inspecting Rope
Before using any line, run it through your hands. Reject or report:
- Fuzzy, faded or stiff patches: UV degradation, common on polypropylene and on halyards left exposed.
- Chafe: worn sheath, especially where a warp crosses a fairlead or toe rail.
- Core showing through the sheath on braided rope: the line is no longer safe under load.
- Hard or crunchy sections: internal damage or salt crystals.
- Lumpy or thin spots: a broken core inside the sheath.
Coiling and Stowing
A coiled rope is a rope ready to work. A rope in a heap is a trip hazard, a fouling hazard and a delay in an emergency. Coil a line the moment you have finished with it.
The diagram below compares the two coils you need: a clockwise coil for three-strand and a figure-of-eight coil for braid.
Clockwise Coil (Three-Strand)
- Hold the rope in your left hand (if right-handed), with the end that is made fast nearest you.
- With your right hand, run along about an arm's span of rope and bring it to your left hand, rotating it slightly between your fingers so that the loop lies flat. The loops go clockwise when viewed from above, following the right-hand lay.
- Keep loops the same size. If a loop wants to flip into a figure-of-eight, you are coiling against the lay or not giving it the small twist it needs.
- Finish by wrapping the tail around the coil three or four times, pushing a bight through the top of the coil and over the top, then pulling it tight. Alternatively, hang the coil on its cleat or pin with a loop of the standing part.
Coiling a right-hand laid rope anticlockwise puts a half-twist into the rope with every loop. When the rope is pulled out, those twists become hard kinks that jam in blocks.
Figure-of-Eight Coil (Braided)
Braided rope has no lay to follow. Lay it in alternating loops, one to the left, one to the right, so that the twist added by each loop is cancelled by the next. The coil will run freely from either end. The same technique is used when flaking a sheet or halyard tail into a pile on the cockpit floor ready to run.
Stowing Rules
- The working end comes off the top. When a halyard tail is coiled and hung, the part that will run when you release the clutch must be free on top, not trapped underneath.
- Every coil has a home: a specific cleat, pin, bag or locker.
- Never leave rope loose on deck. It trips crew, catches in winches and, worst of all, slides overboard and wraps the propeller.
- Keep ropes out of sunlight when stowed, and rinse in fresh water occasionally to remove salt crystals that abrade fibres.
The Essential Knots
Practise each knot until you can tie it with your eyes closed, then in gloves, then with someone tugging the standing part. The exam is not whether you can tie it at a table but whether you can tie it on a heeling foredeck in the dark.
Figure-of-Eight (Stopper Knot)
Purpose: stops the end of a rope running out through a block, clutch, jammer or fairlead. Tie one in the tail of every sheet and in any halyard tail that could disappear up the mast. A halyard that runs out through the masthead sheave means someone has to go up the mast to re-reeve it.
How to tie:
- Make a loop by crossing the working end over the standing part.
- Take the working end around behind the standing part.
- Bring it back over and push it down through the first loop.
- Pull both ends to tighten. It should look like the number 8.
The step diagrams below show the first loop and the pass around the back.
The finished knot is shown below, together with a realistic drawing of how it looks in real rope.
Why this and not an overhand knot? An overhand knot is smaller, so it can pull through some blocks, and it jams into a hard lump under load. The figure-of-eight is bulkier and unties easily even after being snatched hard.
Common error: finishing with a simple overhand knot by accident. Lay it flat and check for the 8 shape.
Exception: on spinnaker sheets and some racing setups, stoppers are deliberately left off so the sheet can be released completely in a broach. Your skipper will tell you; the default is always a figure-of-eight.
Bowline
Purpose: a fixed loop at the end of a rope that will not slip or tighten. Uses include tying a jib sheet to the clew of a sail, making a loop to drop over a bollard or cleat, attaching a line to a ring, and making a loop around a person in a rescue (the loop does not tighten around the chest).
How to tie (the rabbit method): the standing part is the tree, the working end is the rabbit and a small loop is the rabbit hole.
- Make a small overhand loop in the standing part, with the part leading to the working end on top. This is the hole.
- The rabbit comes up out of the hole: bring the working end up through the small loop from underneath.
- Round the back of the tree: pass it behind the standing part.
- Back down the hole: bring it down through the small loop again, alongside itself.
- Hold the working end and the side of the big loop together in one hand and pull the standing part with the other to set the knot.
The first diagram shows the small loop and the naming; the second shows the working end going up, around and back down.
The finished bowline is shown below: a fixed loop with a tail of at least 15 cm lying inside the loop.
Strengths: strong, will not slip, easy to untie after loading by "breaking its back" (bending the collar backwards).
Weaknesses: it cannot be tied or untied while the standing part is under load; and a bowline with a short tail can capsize (shake loose) when the load repeatedly comes and goes, as it does on a flogging jib sheet or a moored boat surging on its warps.
The diagram below contrasts a dangerously short tail with a correct one.
Rule of thumb: the tail should be at least 15 cm, roughly the length of your hand from wrist to fingertip, and about 12 rope diameters on thick warps. If the tail looks short, untie and retie the knot rather than adding a "safety" knot to the tail.
Clove Hitch
Purpose: a quick, adjustable, temporary hitch to a rail, stanchion or post. Its classic job aboard is hanging fenders from the guardrail or stanchion base, where you need to raise or lower them quickly.
How to tie (around a rail):
- Pass the working end around the rail once.
- Cross over the standing part, making an X.
- Pass around the rail a second time, next to the first turn.
- Tuck the working end under the second turn, so it comes out between the two turns, parallel to the standing part but pointing the other way.
- Pull tight.
The two step diagrams show the first wrap, then the cross and second wrap.
The finished clove hitch is shown below.
Weakness: a clove hitch relies on constant tension to hold. When the load varies or comes from changing directions (a boat surging alongside, a fender rolling on a pontoon), it can work loose or slide along the rail. The diagram below shows why it is the wrong knot for a mooring line on a tidal berth.
Many skippers finish a fender clove hitch with one or two half hitches around the standing part for security. For anything that matters, use a round turn and two half hitches.
Round Turn and Two Half Hitches
Purpose: the standard secure hitch for tying a rope to a ring, post, rail or bollard where the load may vary: a mooring line to a pontoon ring, a tender painter to a ring, a line to a mooring buoy ring. It can be tied and, crucially, untied while the line is under load.
How to tie:
- Take the working end around the object twice, so that it fully encircles it (a round turn). The friction of the round turn takes the load; you can now hold a heavily loaded line with one hand.
- Bring the working end over the standing part and tuck it back through, forming a half hitch around the standing part.
- Make a second half hitch in the same direction, next to the first. (The two half hitches together form a clove hitch around the standing part.)
- Snug the hitches down against the round turn.
The step diagrams show the round turn taking the load, then the two half hitches.
The finished knot is shown below.
Image: USCG PTC Developer, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hitch-round_turn_two_half-ABoK_1720-USCG.jpg)
Why it is so useful: to release, you undo the half hitches (which carry little load because the round turn is gripping) and then ease the line out around the object under control. No other knot here does that.
Common error: making only a single turn instead of a round turn. A single turn does not grip and the half hitches then take the whole load and jam.
Rolling Hitch
Purpose: to attach a line to another rope, or to a spar, so that it grips when pulled lengthwise. Classic uses: taking the load off a jammed or overridden sheet so the winch can be cleared, attaching a snubber to an anchor warp, and hanging a fender from a guardrail so it does not slide.
How to tie (onto a taut rope):
- Decide the direction the new line will pull.
- Take the working end around the taut rope, then around again, with both turns progressing towards the direction of pull and the second turn crossing over the first. These two riding turns are what grip.
- Take the working end across the standing part, further away from the pull direction, and make a third turn on the other side of the standing part.
- Tuck the working end under this last turn and pull tight.
The first diagram shows the two wraps progressing towards the pull; the second shows the finished hitch with the third wrap tucked under itself.
The drawing below shows a rolling hitch tied in real rope.
Key point: the double turn must be on the side the load comes from. Tied the wrong way round it slides straight off. It holds only along the rope; pull it at right angles and it will not grip.
Sheet Bend
Purpose: joins two ropes, especially of different thickness or stiffness. Examples: extending a line that is too short, attaching a thin line to the bight of a thicker one, or bending a heaving line on to a heavy mooring warp.
How to tie:
- Make a bight (U-shape) in the thicker rope and hold it.
- Pass the end of the thinner rope up through the bight from underneath.
- Take it around behind both legs of the bight.
- Tuck it under itself (but not through the bight), so it lies across the bight.
- Hold all four parts and pull tight. Both short ends should finish on the same side of the knot.
The diagrams below show the bight in the thick rope and the finished bend.
Here it is drawn in real rope.
Variations: where the ropes are very different in size, or slippery, take the thin rope around the bight twice before tucking: a double sheet bend. Always pass the thin rope around the thick rope's bight, never the other way round.
Weakness: it can shake loose if it is not under load and is flogged about. Leave decent tails.
Reef Knot
Purpose: a binding knot, used to tie the two ends of the same piece of line around something: sail ties around a furled mainsail, the reef points when slab reefing, tying up a bundle. It lies flat and is easy to release by pulling one tail back.
How to tie: right over left and under, then left over right and under.
- Take one end in each hand. Cross the right end over the left and tuck it under to make the first half (an overhand knot).
- Now cross the end that is in your left hand over the one in your right, and tuck it under.
- Pull tight. Each rope should come out alongside its own part, and the knot should be flat and symmetrical.
The step diagram and finished knot are below.
A realistic drawing of the reef knot in rope:
The granny knot trap. If you tie both halves the same way (right over left, then right over left again) you get a granny knot. It sits twisted and lopsided, and it either jams or slips. Compare them in the diagram below.
Never use a reef knot to join two different ropes that will take a load. If one end is pulled sideways, the reef knot capsizes into two half hitches and slides apart. Joining ropes is a sheet bend's job.
The Cleat Hitch
Although it does not have its own step diagram here, the cleat hitch is the knot you will use most often. It secures a line to a horned cleat, on deck or on a pontoon.
- Lead the line to the far horn of the cleat first (the horn furthest from where the load comes from), and take a full turn around the base. This turn takes the load.
- Cross diagonally over the top of the cleat and around the opposite horn, making a figure-of-eight.
- Make one more figure-of-eight crossing if the line is slippery or heavily loaded.
- Finish with a locking hitch: twist a small loop so the tail passes underneath itself, and drop it over the horn. The tail should lie parallel to the previous crossing.
The photograph below shows a completed cleat hitch on a pontoon cleat: a turn around the base, a figure-of-eight crossing and a locking hitch on the near horn.
Image: BenFrantzDale, [CC BY-SA 3.0](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/), via [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tied_cleat.jpg)
Common errors are leading to the wrong horn first (the line then jams as it loads), and wrapping turn after turn in a spiral with no figure-of-eight, which jams solid and cannot be released under load. Too many locking hitches also jam. One full turn, one or two figure-of-eights, one locking hitch.
On a sheet or halyard that may need to be released in a hurry, many skippers ask for no locking hitch at all, just a turn and figure-of-eights, so it can be let go instantly. Follow the skipper's preference.
Splicing and Whipping
You will not be expected to produce a perfect splice on the Competent Crew course, but you should understand what a splice and a whipping are for and be able to attempt both.
Eye Splice in Three-Strand Rope
A splice weaves the strands of the rope back into itself. An eye splice makes a permanent loop, as found on the end of most mooring warps. It keeps close to the full strength of the rope and cannot shake loose like a knot.
The first diagram shows the strands unlaid and the eye formed; the second shows the strands tucked against the lay.
Procedure:
- Tape the strand ends, then unlay the rope for a length of roughly 10 times its diameter (about 10 cm on a 10 mm rope); tape the rope at that point to stop it unlaying further.
- Bend the end back to form an eye of the size you want.
- Tuck the middle strand under one strand of the standing part, against the lay (at right angles to the twist).
- Tuck the next strand under the strand next to it, entering where the first strand came out.
- Turn the splice over and tuck the third strand under the remaining strand, so each strand emerges from a different gap.
- Continue over one, under one, against the lay. Make at least three full tucks per strand on polyester, and five on nylon, which is slippery.
- Roll the splice underfoot to bed it in, then trim the ends, leaving short tails (on synthetic rope these can be carefully heat-sealed).
Sailmaker's Whipping
A rope end left unprotected frays, then unlays, and soon will not pass through a block. Ends are finished by whipping, heat-sealing or a sewn whipping. The sailmaker's whipping is the most durable traditional whipping for three-strand rope, binding waxed twine tightly round the end with the finishing knot buried inside the wraps. The diagram below shows the principle.
Method in outline:
- Unlay the end about 5 cm, lay a loop of waxed twine along one strand, and re-lay the rope.
- Wrap the twine tightly round the rope, working towards the end, for a length about one and a half times the rope's diameter.
- Take the loop of twine up over the outside of the whipping, following the strand it came from, and drop it over the end of that strand.
- Pull the short end to tighten the loop, then take that end up the remaining groove and reef-knot the two ends in the middle of the rope, between the strands, so the knot is hidden.
- Cut the twine ends short.
The result is neat and will not slide off. A quicker alternative on synthetic rope is to tape the end tightly and cut through the tape with a hot knife, which melts and seals the fibres.
Working Safely with Lines
Rope under load stores a great deal of energy. A 10-tonne yacht surging on a mooring line can load it to several tonnes. The rules below prevent the classic rope injuries: crushed fingers, rope burns and people pulled overboard.
- Never wrap a rope around your hand, wrist or body to get a better grip. If the load surges you cannot let go.
- Never stand inside a bight or coil of a working rope on deck. If it loads it snaps shut around your leg.
- Keep fingers clear of cleat horns, fairleads and winch drums. When easing a line on a cleat or winch, keep your hands at least 15 cm from the fitting and use the friction of the turns, not your grip, to control it.
- Use the turns to hold the load, not your muscles. A round turn on a bollard, or two or three turns on a winch, lets one person hold a load they could never hold by hand.
- Ease, do not let go. Release a loaded line under control with a turn still on, unless told to "let fly".
- Wear gloves when handling heavily loaded warps or anchor chain.
- Heaving lines have soft weights only. Never add a shackle or chain to the end.
Ropework often happens while stepping between boat and pontoon with a warp in hand. The diagram below shows the three-points-of-contact rule you must follow whenever you move between boat and shore.
Always have two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand, in contact. Step onto solid deck, not onto the toe rail or guardwires, and step, never jump. If the gap is too big, the skipper brings the boat closer; you do not leap. Carry the coiled warp in one hand and keep the other for the boat.
Rope Sizes, Strength and Care
Choosing a Diameter
Rope is sold by diameter in millimetres, and the diameter you need depends on the job and the size of the boat. These figures are typical for a 9 to 12 m cruising yacht and are a guide, not a rule. Always check the manufacturer's breaking load and the boat's own gear.
| Job | Typical diameter | Typical material |
|---|---|---|
| Jib or genoa sheets | 10 to 12 mm | Braided polyester |
| Mainsheet | 10 to 12 mm | Braided polyester |
| Halyards | 10 to 12 mm | Braided polyester or Dyneema core |
| Reefing lines | 8 to 10 mm | Braided polyester |
| Mooring warps | 12 to 16 mm | Three-strand or braided nylon |
| Anchor rode (rope part) | 14 to 16 mm | Three-strand nylon |
| Sail ties | 8 to 10 mm or flat webbing | Polyester or Dacron |
| Heaving line | 8 to 10 mm, 20 to 25 m | Floating polypropylene |
| Fender lines | 6 to 8 mm | Polyester |
A quick rule for mooring warps is about 1.5 mm of diameter for every metre of boat length: a 10 m boat takes warps of about 14 to 16 mm, a 12 m boat about 16 to 18 mm. Going up a size makes lines easier to hold and more resistant to chafe, but a rope that is too thick for the cleat or fairlead is hard to cleat properly.
Working Load and Safety Margin
A rope's breaking load is the load at which a new, straight rope fails in a laboratory. A rope in service should never be worked anywhere near it. The usual rule is that the safe working load is about one fifth (20 per cent) of the breaking load for a new rope, and less for old rope or rope carrying a knot. The reasons stack up:
- A knot takes 30 to 50 per cent off the strength.
- Age, UV, chafe and repeated loading take off more.
- Shock loads (a boat snatching at a warp, a flogging sail) briefly exceed the steady load several times over.
Worked example: a 14 mm nylon warp has a breaking load of about 4 tonnes new. A bowline in it might hold 2 to 2.5 tonnes. Working at one fifth of the knotted figure gives a sensible limit of around 500 kg. A 10 tonne yacht in a gale can easily snatch a mooring line harder than that, which is why you use several lines, spread the load with springs, and use an eye splice or a bowline with chafe protection at the ends.
Chafe: the Silent Killer
Most ropes on yachts do not break because they are overloaded. They break because they have been rubbed through. Common chafe points are fairleads and chocks, toe rails, the edge of a pontoon, a guardwire, a spreader tip and the edge of a cleat.
- Lead lines fairly, so they run in a straight line through the fairlead without sawing across an edge.
- Use chafe protection: a length of hose, a sewn leather or fabric sleeve, or a purpose-made chafe guard, tied or taped so it stays at the chafe point.
- Move the point of contact. On an overnight mooring, let out or take in a little line from time to time (or at least check it), so the same piece of rope is not under load at the same point all night.
- Look at it every time. A sheath with a flat, glazed or fluffy patch at a fairlead is a warning.
Care and Maintenance
- Rinse lines in fresh water at the end of a season. Salt crystals cut fibres from inside.
- Dry before long-term storage. Damp rope stored in a locker grows mould and rots natural fibre.
- Keep lines out of diesel, oil, battery acid and strong cleaners.
- Do not leave nylon warps in strong sunlight for years. UV weakens all synthetic rope, polypropylene fastest.
- End-for-end running lines (swapping which end is in use) so wear is spread. Replace halyards and sheets when the cover is worn through or the line has gone hard and stiff.
- Heat-seal or whip every end. Never leave an unfinished end.
Handling Lines Aboard: Cleats, Winches and Sheets
Ropework is not only knots. Most of the line handling you do on a yacht involves a cleat, a winch or a clutch, and the RYA syllabus expects you to do all three safely.
Cleats and Jammers
A horned cleat holds a line by friction and by the turn around its base. The cleat hitch described above is the standard way to make fast. Two further points:
- Cleat the line so that it leads straight to the cleat from the direction of pull. A line that comes in at a sharp angle jams against one horn and cannot be released.
- On a mooring line that will be left, use a locking hitch. On a sheet or halyard that might need to be released, do not lock it unless the skipper says so.
A cam cleat or jammer holds a line by gripping it between toothed cams or a clutch. To release, lift the line up out of the cam (or open the clutch lever) and ease it out under control. To avoid a line running away, keep a hand on it, and never release a loaded jammer without having a turn on a winch to catch it.
Winches: Turns and Tailing
A winch drum multiplies your pulling force. A sheet is wrapped clockwise around the drum (as seen from above), usually for two or three turns on a headsail sheet in light winds and three or four in strong winds. More turns give more friction and so more holding power but are harder to release.
- Take the turns before the load comes on, with the line leading smoothly from the sail to the drum at the bottom of the drum, not the top.
- Keep the turns neat. Each turn must lie below the one above. Turns that cross cause an override: a turn riding over the turn below it and trapping it. An override jams the winch under load.
- Tail the sheet: a second person (or you, with your other hand) pulls the free end of the line in a straight line away from the drum as the winch handle is turned. Keep your fingers well back from the drum.
- Self-tailing winches hold the line in a grooved jaw on top, so one person can wind and tail at once. Make sure the line goes into the self-tailer jaw cleanly and the correct way round.
- To ease a sheet, keep two hands on it: one on the line coming off the drum, the other on the tail. Lift the turns slightly (do not unwrap them) and let the friction control the line. Never let a loaded winch run free.
The winch safety checklist is short:
- Remove the winch handle after use, so it does not fall on someone or jam the boom.
- Keep long hair, loose clothing, lanyards and fingers clear of the drum.
- If a sheet overrides, never attempt to clear it by hand while loaded. Use the rolling hitch method in the worked example below.
Halyards and Sheets: Calls and Responses
Skippers and crew work to a vocabulary. You will hear "Ease the main", "Winch in the genoa", "Check the halyard" and "Hold that". The basic rules of calls on a yacht are:
- The person in charge gives one call at a time.
- The person doing the job repeats the call to confirm ("Easing the genoa").
- When the job is done, say so ("Genoa eased, made fast").
- Do not release or ease anything loaded without a clear instruction, unless it is an emergency.
A hoisted halyard is made fast on a cleat or in a clutch, and its tail coiled and hung. When lowering sail, take the halyard turns off the winch while holding the tail, and keep tension on the line so it does not fall in a heap and tangle.
Mooring Lines and Fenders
The RYA syllabus expects you to handle fenders and warps as an active crew member when the boat berths. This is where you apply most of the knots in this lesson.
The Four Lines
A yacht alongside a pontoon is usually secured with four lines. Picture the boat lying parallel to the pontoon.
| Line | Leads from | Leads to | Job |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bow line | Bow cleat | Pontoon, abeam or slightly ahead of the bow | Holds the bow in; stops the boat moving sideways at the bow |
| Stern line | Stern cleat | Pontoon, abeam or slightly astern | Holds the stern in |
| Forward spring | Amidships or bow cleat | Pontoon, aft of the cleat | Stops the boat moving forward along the pontoon |
| Aft spring | Amidships or stern cleat | Pontoon, forward of the cleat | Stops the boat moving astern along the pontoon |
A way to remember it: a spring is named for the direction of movement it stops. The forward spring leads aft (it holds the boat back from moving forward). The aft spring leads forward.
Lines should be about the length of the boat (or a little longer for springs) so they have enough angle to work. On a tidal berth, give them enough slack to allow for the rise and fall of the tide: a boat on a pontoon that floats up and down needs less slack than a boat on a fixed quay, where a 4 m tidal range could pull a short line tight as the tide falls.
Each line should have an eye (a spliced eye or a bowline) at the boat end, made fast to the cleat, and the shore end secured by a loop over a bollard, a cleat hitch or a round turn and two half hitches. If you pass the eye of a line round the shore bollard or through a ring and bring it back to a cleat on the boat, you can release it from on board later (see slipping a line below).
Slipping a Line
When the boat leaves a berth, it is often useful to slip a line: to loop it round the bollard and bring both ends back to the boat, then release one end and pull the line through from on board, so nobody has to step ashore to untie it. Do this with spring lines when the skipper plans to use a spring to turn the boat off the berth.
Fenders
- Hang fenders before you reach the berth, not at the last minute.
- Use three or four on each side on a 10 m boat: one near the bow, one or two amidships (where the widest part of the hull touches), one near the stern.
- Hang them so that the bottom just touches or nearly touches the water. Too high and they do not protect the waterline, too low and they drag.
- Tie them to a stanchion base or to the lower guardwire, not to the top guardwire or a guardrail, which can bend or break if the fender is squeezed, and which lets the fender ride up over a pontoon edge.
- Use a clove hitch finished with a half hitch so the fender can be raised or lowered quickly. For a fender hung on a guardwire, a rolling hitch stops it sliding along the wire.
- Bring them back on deck and stow them when you leave. Fenders left hanging over the side at sea look unseamanlike, drag in the water and can foul a sheet or the log.
The Bow Line and the Springs: a Practical Order
When the boat comes alongside:
- The bow line goes ashore first if the wind is blowing the bow off. If the wind is blowing the boat onto the berth, the stern line or an aft spring may be needed first.
- A forward spring is often the most useful single line: with the engine in slow ahead and the forward spring taut, the boat holds itself against the pontoon while the others are rigged.
- Never pass a line to someone on the pontoon unless they have asked for it and are looking at you. Call "Line!" and throw a heaving line with a soft monkey's fist or weighted end (never a shackle) if the gap is large.
Throwing and Handling a Heaving Line
A heaving line is a light floating line, usually 8 to 10 mm and 20 to 25 m long. It is thrown ashore (or to a casualty) with a weight on the end, and used to pull a heavier line across.
- Flake the whole line onto the deck or into a bucket, so it runs out freely, rather than leaving it in a tangled heap.
- Split the line: hold about half in your throwing hand (the weighted end) in loose coils, and the other half in the other hand, with the inboard end tied to a cleat or held under your foot.
- Look at your target, swing underarm, and release the weighted coils towards the target. Aim a little beyond the person you are throwing to.
- The person who receives it hauls in the line, and a heavier mooring warp can be bent on to the heaving line with a sheet bend and hauled across.
Never throw a line to a person in the water without keeping hold of the inboard end, and never throw a weighted heaving line at a person (a monkey's fist can injure). Throw it beyond them.
Further Knots and Useful Variations
The RYA Competent Crew syllabus names the eight knots above, but you will quickly meet some close relatives. Knowing them makes you more useful and prepares you for Day Skipper.
- Figure-of-eight on a bight: a figure-of-eight tied with the doubled rope, making a fixed loop that is easy to untie after loading. Useful for a clip-on loop or a loop to drop over a bollard.
- Double sheet bend: a sheet bend with two turns round the bight, for joining very unequal or slippery ropes, as described above.
- Clove hitch on a bight: a clove hitch made with a loop of rope that is dropped over the end of a post or bollard, useful when you cannot reach the end of the line.
- Double bowline or bowline with a Yosemite finish: variants that resist working loose. They are not in the syllabus, but you may be taught them.
- Anchor bend (fisherman's bend): two turns round a ring, then a half hitch through both turns and a second half hitch around the standing part. It is the traditional way to attach an anchor rope to an anchor ring. The round turn and two half hitches is similar and acceptable for a crew member.
- Stopper knots in the tail of a sheet: besides the figure-of-eight, a double overhand (stopper) gives a larger lump when a larger stopper is wanted on thin line.
- Constrictor knot: a binding knot that grips harder than a reef knot, used for whipping and for tying bags and bundles. Hard to undo.
None of these replaces the basic eight. On a Competent Crew course, your instructor will ask you to tie the eight, to explain what each is for, and to choose the right one for a job.
What the RYA Instructor Expects
A Competent Crew course is assessed continuously by your instructor through the week. There is no written test and no pass mark for a single knot. At the end of the course, the instructor decides whether you are competent to be a useful member of a crew. For knots and ropework, that means:
- You tie the bowline, figure-of-eight, clove hitch, round turn and two half hitches, rolling hitch, sheet bend, reef knot and cleat hitch correctly, quickly and without prompting, and you can tie most of them one-handed or without looking.
- You can tell the instructor what each knot is for and which one to use if the skipper asks for a "secure loop", "a quick temporary hitch" or "something to join two ropes".
- You coil and stow ropes without being asked, and you do not leave loose rope on deck.
- You use winches and cleats safely: correct turns, no overrides, fingers clear, no wrapped hands.
- When berthing, you rig fenders and warps at the right place and height and pass a line ashore safely.
- You recognise when a rope is unsafe (chafe, sun damage, core showing) and tell the skipper.
Practical tips from instructors:
- Practise every knot in the dark and with gloves on. A knot you can only tie with eyes open and warm hands is not yet learned.
- Practise a different knot every day at home with a 2 m length of rope. Ten minutes a day is more effective than an hour once a week.
- When asked to tie a knot, say its name aloud as you start. It shows you know which knot is for which job.
- If you forget, do not guess or tie something clever. Say "I would like to check" and ask. Instructors prefer a sailor who knows their limits.
Choosing the Right Knot
| Job | Knot | Why not something else |
|---|---|---|
| Stop a sheet running out through a block | Figure-of-eight | Overhand jams and is smaller |
| Tie a sheet to the clew of a headsail | Bowline | Needs a fixed loop that will not tighten |
| Loop over a bollard from the boat | Bowline (large loop) | Easy to drop on and lift off |
| Hang a fender from a rail | Clove hitch (plus half hitch) | Fast to adjust height |
| Tie to a ring or rail for the night | Round turn and two half hitches | Clove hitch slips with varying load |
| Take the strain off a jammed sheet | Rolling hitch | Grips lengthwise along the loaded rope |
| Join a thin line to a thick line | Sheet bend (double if very unequal) | Reef knot capsizes |
| Tie sail ties around a furled sail | Reef knot | Flat, quick release |
| Make fast to a horned cleat | Cleat hitch | Spirals jam |
Worked Example
Securing a Bow Line to a Pontoon Bollard
The skipper brings the boat gently alongside and calls "Bow line ashore, round turn and two half hitches on the bollard."
- Before arrival you made the bow line fast on the bow cleat with a cleat hitch, led it out through the fairlead and back over the guardwires (so it runs outside everything), and coiled the free end in your hand with the end on top.
- When the boat is stopped and the gap is a short step, you face the boat, hold the shroud, and step down onto the pontoon. No jumping.
- At the bollard, you pass the line around the base twice to make a round turn. The boat is still drifting off in a light breeze and the line loads up, but the friction of the round turn lets you hold it with one hand.
- Holding the load with the round turn, you take the working end over the standing part and through to make the first half hitch, then repeat to make the second, pulling them snug against the round turn.
- You look back along the line: does it lead fairly to the fairlead without chafing? Is the tail long enough (at least 15 cm)? You call "Bow line made fast."
With practice the whole sequence takes under 15 seconds. When leaving, the reverse is easy: undo the two half hitches, hold the load on the round turn, and ease the line off under control.
Clearing a Winch Override
On a beat, the genoa sheet has crossed over itself on the winch drum (an override) and is jammed solid. The skipper asks you to clear it.
- Take a spare line and tie it to the loaded genoa sheet, ahead of the winch, with a rolling hitch. The two riding turns go on the side nearest the sail, since that is the direction the load comes from.
- Lead the spare line to the other (lazy side) winch, take three turns and winch it in until it takes the load and the jammed sheet goes slack between the hitch and the winch.
- Unwind the override from the jammed winch, keeping fingers clear, and re-lead the sheet with tidy turns.
- Wind the sheet back in to take the load, then ease the spare line and untie the rolling hitch.
This shows why each knot exists: a bowline or clove hitch would simply slide along the loaded sheet; only the rolling hitch grips lengthwise.
Rigging Springs for a Tidal Pontoon Berth
The skipper plans to leave a 10 m yacht on a pontoon overnight on a tidal river, with a 3 m range and a gusty wind blowing along the pontoon from astern. You are asked to rig the lines.
- You hang four fenders from stanchion bases with clove hitches and half hitches, the two middle ones lowest, so the bottoms just touch the water.
- You make the bow line fast on the bow cleat with a cleat hitch, lead it through the fairlead and take a bowline in the other end to drop over a pontoon cleat. You check the eye is level with the cleat so the tide does not pull it off.
- You rig a forward spring from the midships cleat, leading aft to a pontoon cleat about a boat's width behind the cleat, and an aft spring led forward from the stern cleat. The springs do most of the work holding the boat in the right place along the pontoon.
- You leave each line about the length of the boat, with a little slack for the 3 m rise and fall, and fit chafe hose where a line crosses the toe rail.
- At the end you check each knot: bowline tails at least 15 cm, no spiral wraps on cleats, fenders at the right height, no loose rope on deck. You tell the skipper "Lines rigged, fenders out".
Next morning the tide has dropped. A good check is that the lines are still tight enough to hold the boat, but not so tight that the boat hangs from them. If one is bar-taut, you ease it before you leave the boat.
Common Mistakes
- Short bowline tails. The knot capsizes under repeated loading. Leave at least 15 cm; retie, do not patch.
- Clove hitch on a mooring line. It slips as the tide and wind vary the load. Use a round turn and two half hitches or a bowline.
- Granny knot instead of reef knot. Check that the finished knot is flat and symmetrical. Say "right over left, left over right" as you tie.
- Reef knot used as a bend. It capsizes when loaded unevenly. Use a sheet bend.
- Rolling hitch tied the wrong way round. The double turn must face the load.
- Spiral wraps on a cleat. They jam. One turn round the base, figure-of-eights, one locking hitch.
- Coiling three-strand anticlockwise. It kinks. Coil clockwise and twist each loop slightly so it lies flat.
- Working end at the bottom of the coil. The rope will not run. Coil so the end to be pulled comes off the top.
- No stopper knots. Sheets and halyard tails disappear through blocks.
- Wrapping rope around the hand. Risk of crush injury and being dragged. Use turns on a fitting to hold loads.
- Overridden winches. Turns crossing on a winch jam it under load. Lay turns neatly and tail correctly.
- Too few turns on a winch, so the sheet slips and burns the hands, or too many, so it cannot be eased.
- Mooring lines led over a sharp edge with no chafe protection.
- No slack for the tide on a fixed quay, so the lines break or the boat hangs from them.
- Fenders hung too high, or tied to the top guardwire.
- Letting a loaded line run through your hands instead of easing under control.
Summary
- Three-strand rope is stretchy and splices easily; braided rope runs smoothly and is used for sheets and halyards. Nylon stretches (mooring, anchoring), polyester does not (running rigging), polypropylene floats.
- Coil three-strand clockwise; coil braid in figure-of-eights. Every coil stowed, working end on top, nothing loose on deck.
- The core Competent Crew knots: figure-of-eight (stopper), bowline (fixed loop), clove hitch (quick temporary hitch), round turn and two half hitches (secure hitch that releases under load), rolling hitch (lengthwise grip), sheet bend (joining ropes), reef knot (binding), cleat hitch (making fast to a cleat).
- Know each knot's weakness: bowlines capsize with short tails, clove hitches slip, reef knots capsize when used as bends, rolling hitches slide if tied backwards.
- Splices keep nearly full rope strength; knots lose 30 to 50 per cent. Whipping stops ends fraying.
- Use friction, not muscle, to hold loads; never wrap rope around yourself, never stand in a bight, keep fingers clear of fittings.
- Work a rope at about one fifth of its breaking load, and remember that knots remove 30 to 50 per cent of strength. Chafe, not overload, is what usually breaks lines.
- Winch turns go clockwise, laid neatly to avoid an override; tail the line and keep fingers clear.
- Four lines hold a berthed yacht: bow, stern, forward spring (leads aft) and aft spring (leads forward). Fenders hang so they just touch the water, tied to stanchion bases with a clove hitch and half hitch.
Check Your Understanding
- You need to stop the tail of the genoa sheet running out through its block. Which knot do you use and why not an overhand knot?
Answer: A figure-of-eight. It is bulkier, so it will not pull through the block, and it is easy to untie after loading. An overhand knot is smaller and jams into a hard lump.
- What is the minimum tail length for a bowline, and why does it matter?
Answer: At least 15 cm (roughly wrist to fingertip, or about 12 rope diameters on thick line). A short tail can work back through the knot under cyclical loading, causing it to capsize and fail.
- You have hung a fender with a clove hitch. The skipper now wants to tie the boat to a pontoon rail overnight on a tidal berth. Why should you not use a clove hitch for the mooring line, and what should you use?
Answer: A clove hitch needs constant tension and slips or works loose when the load varies with tide, wind and surge. Use a round turn and two half hitches (or a bowline over a post).
- Which knot can you tie and untie while the standing part is under load, and what part of it takes the load?
Answer: The round turn and two half hitches. The round turn takes the load through friction, so the half hitches can be tied or released while you hold the load with one hand.
- You need to join a thin heaving line to a thick mooring warp. Which knot, and how do you make it more secure if the sizes are very different?
Answer: A sheet bend, with the bight made in the thick warp and the thin line passed through and around it. For very different diameters, use a double sheet bend (two turns round the bight before tucking).
- How do you tell a reef knot from a granny knot, and why does it matter?
Answer: A reef knot is flat and symmetrical, with each end lying alongside its own standing part (right over left, then left over right). A granny is twisted and lopsided (both halves the same way) and slips or jams under load.
- Why is three-strand rope coiled clockwise?
Answer: Most three-strand rope is right-hand laid. Coiling clockwise follows the lay; coiling anticlockwise adds a half-twist per loop, which becomes kinks when the rope runs out.
- A sheet has an override on the winch. Which knot do you use to attach a spare line to take the load, and which way round must it be tied?
Answer: A rolling hitch, with the riding turns placed on the side the load comes from (towards the sail), so that it grips as it is pulled lengthwise.
- Why are permanent eyes on mooring warps usually spliced rather than tied?
Answer: A splice keeps close to the rope's full breaking strength and cannot shake loose, while a knot reduces strength by 30 to 50 per cent and may capsize.
- Give three safety rules for handling loaded lines.
Answer: Any three of: never wrap rope around your hand or body; never stand in a bight or coil; keep fingers at least 15 cm from cleats, fairleads and winch drums; use turns on a fitting rather than your grip to hold the load; ease under control rather than letting go; wear gloves on heavy warps; only soft weights on heaving lines.
- Which way do you wrap turns on a winch, and what is an override?
Answer: Clockwise, as seen from above, laid neatly so each turn sits below the previous one. An override is a turn riding over another turn and trapping it, which jams the winch under load. Do not clear it by hand while loaded: take the strain with a rolling hitch and a spare line.
- A boat is lying alongside a pontoon. Which line stops it surging forward, and where does it lead?
Answer: The forward spring. It leads from the boat (bow or midships cleat) aft to the pontoon, so it holds the boat back from moving forward. The aft spring leads forward and stops it moving astern.