Flipping your sheets and halyards, or rather end-for-ending, can be a safe and cautious middle ground between replacing that expensive running rigging too early and waiting for sailboat lines to break, writes Dena Hankins.

Many non-racing sailors resist the advice to just ‘throw money at it’ when gear begins to show signs of wear, and that resistance is perfectly reasonable.

Whether considering the financial drain, the environmental cost, or the time and labour invested in choosing and sourcing a replacement, keeping what you have but making it work longer is, more often than not, the best option.

Why should I end-for-end my sailboat lines?

Sheets and halyards travel along regular paths with bends, chafe points, and stretch areas that age before the rest of the line.

In whatever fashion the bitter end is attached to its fixed point (headsail clew, mainsheet block, etc), swapping the working areas will change the dynamic points all along the line.

A roller-furled jib, for example, will have its sheets attached at the clew, run through a turning block (probably on a track) and made off somehow, usually after wrapping around a winch.

A sheet that is led outside shrouds will bend and chafe against them in wind or surge.

Wear points when not in use include the shrouds, the block, the winch, and the cleat (or self-tailing jaws, though I recommend cleating the line as well for extra security).

Under sail, those wear points move to different places on the sheet, but common points of sail will still wear in patterns that become visible over time.

When the mainsail is flaked or furled, the mainsheet has all the expected chafe points plus a significant constant load, unless you have a boom gallows or use lines other than the mainsheet to keep your boom still.

The unending pressure stiffens the mainsheet in exactly the places you want it to run freely: at the blocks between the boom and the traveller or deck.

Under use, twist is slowly introduced through the system as well and concentrates eventually at this same location, making the mainsheet seem in need of replacement long before the line itself is worn out.

For each of these sheets, the working end is cleated off with the extra line coiled or bagged.

That extra line can seem years younger than the harder-working fixed points, and end-for-ending the line can make it work like new.

Is my line a good candidate?

Deciding whether to end-for-end a line can be a simple matter.

If the concern is stiffness on the bitter end or slight wear at specific chafe points, there is an excellent chance that end-for-ending will be a safe way to delay buying new line.

However, end-for-ending sailboat lines may not be safe if there’s too much chafe in a working section of line that will remain afterwards.

Some sailboat lines chafe close enough to the bitter end that even a badly chafed line might be a candidate.

For example, a halyard that has been worn near the shackle might have no safe line left where it passes over the sheave but, if it’s long enough, there’s no need to try and retain any of the damaged portion.

If you have significant chafe at halyard sheaves, you should figure out why and fix it.

That might mean finding and filing down a burr on an aluminium sheave, replacing a cracked composite sheave, adding a halyard diverter, or simply attaching the halyard to the shackle differently so that you have a fair lead into the sheave.

Another consideration is the style of attachment.

If the bitter end is attached by a halyard hitch or other removable knot, it will be easy to figure out whether the working end is acceptable. Simply try to knot it!

If both ends of the line are properly whipped, end-for-ending the line will be fast and easy.

Splicing old sailboat lines can require a couple of extra steps and a bit more brute strength, especially with double-braid polyester and even more so with a double-braid that has a high-modulus core.

The most difficult old line I have spliced was a polyester-covered floating dinghy painter, but I managed with patience, fresh water, fabric softener, and strong hands.

Hollow braided ropes are the easiest to splice when aged but achieving the best result still requires softening the rope.

Splices use up length, so be sure that the line will still be long enough after both ends have been manipulated: the old eye cut off and the new eye spliced in.

Continues below…

If end-for-ending your sailboat lines is attractive for the future, buy new running rigging long enough for your future flip.

Example: with halyards, our rule-of-thumb is twice the length of the mast plus 3m.

With genoa sheets, it’s the length of the boat plus 3m.

What’s the process?

Making note of the line’s path is a crucial step.

Is the headsail sheet led inside or outside the shrouds? Where and how does it cross any other lines? What is the halyard’s position in the deck organiser, if installed?

Mainsail sheets are usually reeved through multiple-sheave blocks and recreating the pattern can be more difficult than you might think.

If in doubt, use a mousing line (a small diameter line for pulling the end-for-ended line back through, sometimes called a messenger line) to maintain the path.

Mousing lines are essential for halyards that run inside the mast and, even with an external halyard, will save a trip aloft.

Releasing the sheets

For knotted headsail sheets, slack the line, release the knot on the sail’s clew (a fid or marline spike may be required), and pull the line from the knotted end until the whole line is free.

The knot may have left kinks in the line that won’t pass through all the blocks easily so, using the former working end, start aft and run the line forward, paying strict attention to following the path it took (make it easy and take a picture), then tie it off as usual on the clew.

Wet it if necessary for flexibility.

If the new working end was knotted without having been whipped, save the rope from unravelling by whipping it before you pull.

(Side note: a double overhand stopper knot in the new working end can keep a dropped sheet from flailing right out of its turning block and becoming a terrible hassle to retrieve.)

A knotted mainsheet can be reeved using the new bitter end.

This is usually the shorter trip through the blocks and results in less twist than knotting the bitter end first and then reeving the line from the working end.

If a thin mousing line was used, a rolling hitch and a wrap of tape above and below the hitch will be sufficient to hold the lines together.

Since the work is at deck level, keep an eye on that point and it should be fine—the same is not true for halyards unless going aloft is your happy place.

Halyards should have the working end stitched to the mousing line with twine and lightly wrapped in tape.

The two lines will need to pass over the sheave one after another, not together.

Most well-built halyards have a reeving eye, which is a wonderful attachment point made by removing the core from double-braid line and burying the cover.

Run the mousing line through the reeving eye and make a bowline. Secure and easy.

Use the shackle end of the halyard to pull the mousing line up into or alongside the mast and then work it through the sheave.

If resistance is encountered, shift both ends a little at a time.

Reeving a smaller line is almost always easier than re-running the large halyard.

With the mousing line maintaining the path up and down the mast, the entire halyard is now available to work with.

A thorough inspection can be carried out, including checking the shackle for bent pins, splits, distortion, etc.

If you make sure you have sufficient length and don’t need to change to a halyard hitch, you’ll find it easier to splice the line back on the halyard shackle while it is down.

Splicing can be a pleasure, especially on those early spring days that are no good for sailing but warm enough to make it feel just around the corner.

Consider putting a reeving eye in the new working end while you have your kit out – it’ll feel satisfying and make life easier in the long term.

This entire process is excellent winter work.

For those who remove and store their headsails and spare their halyards a winter’s worth of ageing by replacing them with mousing lines over winter, this is the most accessible those lines will ever be.

The end-for-ending process can be a satisfying way to get your mind and body back into your boating season.

Sailboat lines: End-for-ending a mainsheet with an eye splice

1. Make a plan for the new splice and calculate how much length will be lost.

If you use the rule-of-thumb, will the line be long enough for another splice and the removal of the old eye?

Remember to measure the line.

2. Secure the boom with a separate line or two. Please don’t forget this very important step!

3. Slacken the mainsheet and remove it from the mainsheet block’s becket.

4. If you will be using a mousing line, attach it to your mainsheet. A line that barely fits through the blocks will need a low-profile attachment method. With a little more room, a nice tight rolling hitch will do.

5. Pull the mainsheet free, using a mousing line to maintain the path of the mainsheet (otherwise you’ll have to memorise its route).

6. Most old lines will be easier to splice if you’ve soaked them in a bucket of fresh water for an hour. Very stiff lines will be well served by an overnight soak in water with vinegar or baking soda added as a fabric softener.

7. Assess the new working end’s integrity and length. Cut off any badly chafed sections. Cut the old eye off or pull it out and then cut, as required. Now attach the thinned portion of the working end, if you have one or have created one, to your mousing line.

8. Reeve the mainsheet from the new working end.

Then (above) attach the new eye to the becket on the block.

9. Test the length by pushing the boom out to its farthest point. If it is too short after all your efforts, I recommend uttering some profanities – at least it helps prepare you for having to throw money at it after all.

10. Mark the farthest extent of safe travel for the boom with tape. Our safe zone is whipped in contrasting thread at a thickness that is easy to feel in the dark. This ensures we keep the boom off the shrouds. This mark is made with the traveller car centred.

11. Whip the new working end to prevent fraying

12. Finally, lightly whip the point you taped in step 10 to make the mark more permanent

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Enjoyed reading How to get more life out of sailboat lines: step-by-step?

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