Tidbit: Tacking the headsail with an inner forestay in place...

Or... Alternative methods of attaching sheets to headsails...

This is one of a series of brief, no nonsense posts that we call aTidbit: 

noun; small and [possibly] particularly interesting item of gossip or information...

The purpose is to share succinct posts about lessons learned, or things we use or do that work [or don't...] that are common to most of us boaters. 

The goal is to garner feedback from those of you having first-hand experience with a different approach/ solution/ product/ or additional useful information to share...  

We never assume what we are sharing is the ideal or only; it just seems to best suit our needs [and/or habits and/or budget] from our experiences thus far...

Sometimes these Tidbits originate from a topic of discussion on one of the forums we participate in, and this happens to be one: Link to original post [4-Jan-2019; A good read by sailors sharing their tried and true methods...] 

Following is an expanded version of my original reply to the above forum discussion...

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If your boat doesn't have an inner forestay, we hereby give you a few minutes of your life back and advise against reading any further... [Unless you are interested in using something besides bowline knots to affix sheets to your headsail(s)...]

Scenario: When tacking [or even gybing] the headsail with an inner forestay in place, the inner stay can interfere with the smooth transition of the headsail from windward to leward in many conditions...

We can always furl the headsail as we come into the wind, and unfurl on the new tack, but we would rather not have to...

We can also send someone forward to walk the sail through 'the slot' in very light air...

And in some conditions we remove the inner forestay [using the Highfield lever]. But unless sailing in very light air [making tacking the headsail easier] or beating into stronger winds, we prefer to leave it in place.

Instead, when tacking, sometimes it helps to time the release of the [now] windward sheet; waiting until the jib begins to fill on the new tack— pulling the the sail through the gap once the sheet is released.

To help mitigate snagging the typical pair of [ungainly] bowline knots on the inner forestay when tacking in lighter air, we do as many racers purport: cow hitch the jib sheets [one long sheet] to the headsail clew... [We use a cow hitch on our staysail sheets as well.]

We mark the center of the sheet line to facilitate attachment and observe if the cow hitch ever slips— and it hasn't so far... [20 years and counting with this approach.]

Worried about a cow hitch slipping under load?

Use a Prusik Knot [or even a 'short' Prusik; a cow hitch with one extra wrap]. It has the added benefit of still holding if one of the lines parted near the knot [unlike a cow hitch...]

This is also how we have always attached our anchor bridle line— with 100% success to date...

One could also temporarily seize the sheetlines right behind the cow hitch if it appeared to be slipping. [e.g., nylon zipties, seizing twine, etc.] But I have never found it necessary. Perhaps this is in part because we switch to [balance better with] the staysail once the wind picks up [depending upon circumstances...]

Another approach if worried about the possibility slipping under high loads is to run one of the two sheet ends back through the clew fitting and then through the loop so formed [a half-hitch through the clew ring...]

Regardless of attachment method, to reduce chafe we install a short length of Dyneema Chafe Sleeve on the sheets at the clew attachment point. 

The trade-offs of using a cow hitch include:

• No quick disconnect [knife in an emergency- then back to bowlines with 2 individual sheets...]
• A very long jib sheet to deal with when removed from the sail
• We flake it after halving the line, so the center is first off the flake for quick affixing to the sail. This way we are passing a flake of rope through the loop instead of two long sheets...
• The knot can slip under extreme loads
• The knot can slip if one line parts close to the hitch
• Both of these concerns are eliminated by using a Prusik knot instead of a cow hitch...

Other proven options we are considering experimenting with include:

To keep the preferred small knot profile but make sheets quick to remove, we could make a small, soft eye [i.e., no thimble] in one end of each sheet. Use a soft shackle through those eyes to affix the sheets to the clew. [Incorporate Dynema Chafe sleeve inside those eyes.]

Since our current sheets were new in 2014, adding a soft eye into one end of this older line would be difficult. [if even possible...] We may do this next time they need replacing...

Meanwhile, we will test how well a soft shackle attachment works for us by tying either an Alpine Butterfly Loop or a Dropper Loop in the middle of our current sheet line and affixing that to the jib clew with a soft shackle... Stay tuned... 

Do you have other solutions that work well for you?