Jabberwocky to GTR :- Why Splice ?

I have always wanted to learn how to splice rope but never had the chance to find someone who had the time to teach me. While you knew who to ask as their boats always looked neat and tidy with impressive rope work fixing their control lines in place, it was rare that it was ever done in the boat park giving you the opportunity to watch and learn. Stepping up into an IRC boat with large loads gave me a clear cut reason to learn this skill which was first used on boats as early as the 16th century.

So Why Splice ?

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There are both positive and negatives to splicing rope, so depending on what you are trying to achieve you may still choose to tie a knot. With that said after spending many hours learning how to splice I now know that if you get creative there are techniques that you can use to replace most if not all joining knots on your boat while avoiding the disadvantages.

The biggest single reason to spice your rope is the relative rope strength achieved when splicing. Connecting or joining rope through a knot reduces the ropes breaking strain by between 20% and 45% (depending on the knot you use), while the perfect splice can maintain the full breaking strain. It is important to note that only a master splicer can achieve this, I don't think I will ever achieve the perfect splice but will happily settle for the 5% to 10% reduction in breaking strain you get on your on your average splice.

The bowline is one of the most highly used knots for creating joins, sadly under load it will reduce the ropes breaking strain by 45%, a far great reduction that with a splice. This is biggest and best reason to drop you knots and learn the fantastic skill.

With the advancement of rope technologies the need to splice on many smaller boats is very low as even the lightest 2mm or 3mm braid can more than handle the loads, even with the trusty bowline. At the other end of the scale todays super fast 100 Footers which are driven by massive sail plans, electronic winches and extreme loads, splicing is a must to limit breakages as crews push their machines to the limit.

Advantages to Splicing

• Limits reduction in breaking strain on rope joins.
• No risk of knots coming undone when not under load.
• Creates a cleaner join, less chance of rope getting caught up with other ropes.
• Allows you to use lighter rope, saving weight.

Disadvantages to Splicing

• Rope is fixed, can not be easily undone in an emergency.
• Time consuming and complicated to do, hard if not impossible to do while racing.

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It is not as hard as you think to become proficient at basic splices so why not give it a go. Click on the links below for your region to get the gear from our affiliate partners.

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