Acera

[Q Xopa]

Hi SWL and Dockhead.

as always, you guys are being the consummate and magnanimous contributors to sharing your learning on the latest developments. Continually striving to improve the accepted best sailing practices. Thanks for your efforts. I have learnt a lot from both of you, as I’m sure have many others.

Acera, sounds very interesting. I’m currently slowly going through having my CT 49 re rigged with synthetic. Perhaps fortuitously I haven’t got that far along yet. Things happen veeeery slowly in Panama. The fact that I’m away working doesn’t help the cause much either. Basically some discussions with John Franta, measurements taken and changes suggested, like going to continuous shrouds etc. I’m doing Titanium chain plates at the same time so we are incorporating extra anchor points in the new chain plate.

Anyway back to topic, as you say a third the cost is a compelling motivation to look at Acera. This could possibly make synthetic rigging an even more affordable and viable option.

Of course going synthetic rigging has given me a shove to be learning about brummel splices etc. Once down the dyneema splicing rabbit hole soft shackles quickly get added to the list.

Anyway I’m not sure exactly if your referring to this style of non diamond knot stopper -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0eZz36PRYI&t=4s

This guy’s version was the way I’m looking at doing them. A little more complicated than a diamond stopper, but the buries are in the stopper knot. So it sounds the same.

Thanks again for your generous contributions.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Q Xopa

Hi SWL and Dockhead.

as always, you guys are being the consummate and magnanimous contributors to sharing your learning on the latest developments. Continually striving to improve the accepted best sailing practices. Thanks for your efforts. I have learnt a lot from both of you, as I’m sure have many others.

Acera, sounds very interesting. I’m currently slowly going through having my CT 49 re rigged with synthetic. Perhaps fortuitously I haven’t got that far along yet. Things happen veeeery slowly in Panama. The fact that I’m away working doesn’t help the cause much either. Basically some discussions with John Franta, measurements taken and changes suggested, like going to continuous shrouds etc. I’m doing Titanium chain plates at the same time so we are incorporating extra anchor points in the new chain plate.

Anyway back to topic, as you say a third the cost is a compelling motivation to look at Acera. This could possibly make synthetic rigging an even more affordable and viable option.

Of course going synthetic rigging has given me a shove to be learning about brummel splices etc. Once down the dyneema splicing rabbit hole soft shackles quickly get added to the list.

Anyway I’m not sure exactly if your referring to this style of non diamond knot stopper -

This guy’s version was the way I’m looking at doing them. A little more complicated than a diamond stopper, but the buries are in the stopper knot. So it sounds the same.

Thanks again for your generous contributions.

Hi Q Xopa
A few comments:

This is very similar to Evans's technique except Evans did not show Brummel locks in his pdf and he was therefore able to form the noose before the eye splices, ensuring the the lengths of the two ends were absolutely identical after the eye splices were formed. This is harder to achieve the other way around (using the midpoint as the apex will not be quite right).

Also, Evans used a bury length of around 34 x line diameter. I did not catch the thickness of Amsteel in the video, only that 6" of bury was used. This may be inadequate when using thicker rope. It is important the thickness of the base of the stopper is fully 4x line diameter to maximise strength. If the bury is too short it will not reach the base of the stopper.

Evans cautioned about making the loop size for the eye splice only barely small enough to take 2 line diameters (the bloke in the video says this too), as otherwise the knot could invert under load and collapse. In Evans's pdf he recommended tightening the loop around two bits of line to make sure the size is right. The loops in the video look too large to me.

As well, although I have not seen this discussed much, it is important the noose is not too small. For these "high strength" soft shackles, four lots of line are actually passing through the noose in the finished product. Making the noose only large enough to take two lots of line, as suggested in the video, is not a good idea in my opinion. I err on the generous size when deciding on noose size, as the balance may alter once the stopper has been preloaded before use (eg on a winch). The type of soft shackles I make have 4 lots of line at the base of the stopper, but I currently make my noose large enough to take 6 lots of line.

Some of these soft shackle designs are very simple, but a lot of care still needs to be taken with technique or strength may suffer badly.

SWL

[Q Xopa]

Hi SWL,

again thanks for your help to me and all of us. All sounds good.

Sorry to be lazy but I did a few searches for Evens PDF you're referring to. I found a few links but seems to be dead.

Any chance you can attach a copy of that PDF please.

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by Q Xopa

Hi SWL,

again thanks for your help to me and all of us. All sounds good.

Sorry to be lazy but I did a few searches for Evens PDF you're referring to. I found a few links but seems to be dead.

Any chance you can attach a copy of that PDF please.

Evans has unfortunately removed this from public view. I am not comfortable reproducing it if this is against his wishes. He still drops in here occasionally, so I suggest you send him a PM.

His tips are based on extensive testing and are like little gems, so it is worth carefully following these. I think the video you posted a link to is only fine to follow if you know the pitfalls and how to avoid them.

SWL

[Q Xopa]

Ah ok,

yes of course.

[weavis]

Regarding the wax feel. Is it the coating that makes the rope unique and if so, what circumstances would degrade it?

Does the rope last longer in water, if this is the case, does it break down quicker out of water when used for other purposes?

[Seaworthy Lass]

Originally Posted by weavis

Regarding the wax feel. Is it the coating that makes the rope unique and if so, what circumstances would degrade it?

Does the rope last longer in water, if this is the case, does it break down quicker out of water when used for other purposes?

I have not found much information about the coating. HMWPE itself does not absorb water, but UV exposure is less if anything is submerged.

My feedback at this stage is only how Acera handles when splicing or tying knots in it.

SWL