Jib lead setup

G'day we have a lot of problems on tacks where the knotts on the jib leads get caught on the diamond wires or spin line on the front of the mast. Does anyone know of a real smooth way to attatch these leads to the jib without leaving anything to get caught?

All I know is tie a bungee from the beam up to the mast at a point well above the tack of the mainsail. That deflects the blocks and prevents the jib leads from snagging. I have mine tied (on a nacra 5.2) from about 1/4 on the beam to a metre above the mastfoot. It used to be tied lower, but the jib leads got caught on the mast rotator when that was out at 90 degrees or more. I fitted a small thingamyjig on the mast for the bungee to go through. No snags since!

A solution is to get rid of the knots and to make splices instead. Splices do look cool and don't catch on anything.

I'm assuming your jib sheet has a 2:1 purchase? In that case not only the knots can catch up, but the blocks can do the same. You can make the issue less problematic by playing with different length of pigtails.

Also I noticed when sailing with my son that the jib has a tendency to snag when he's sheeting it too early. You know kids, always impatient: On a tack he release the sheet, jumps on the other side and pull the new sheet hard right away. And promptly snag it on the mast. I've shown him that waiting until the jib passes over before sheeting in is a better way to go So you may want to review your tack timing, a little change on when you release or pull the jib sheet can prevent snagging.

Finally you mention a spi line, so I'm assuming you have a spi pole as well. You can try to tie a bit of shock cord from the pole to the mast so the blocks go around the shock cord instead of around the mast.

Thank's for the replies, I'd love to do splices but I know I would forget to put the leads in the right place before I put the mast up. I had a bungy going straight out but the bungy going to the spi pole could well do it, I'll try it this weekend.

tie a piece of shock cord from tack to clew of jib so that it pulls the clew foward as soon as sheet tension is released.

Here come the big clue stick. That seems so obvious in retrospect. Thanks, I'm going to try that one.

Thanks, with my new pigtail the bungy on the jib should fix the problem

Not a good idea, it will put a hook in the foot of the sail when the jib is eased for reaching.

G'day Scarecrow I wondered what would happen if the jib tension was off. I'm gonna try the new pigtail and bungy in different position this weekend.
regards