The International Canoe

Where do you guys leave the mainsheet tail when out on the plank? Tried all sort of things today, but ended up just trailing it in the water. Tried lots of things, keeping it in a bundle in my lap (just tied itself into knots), throw it on the aft deck (wrappped itself around the tiller and made a really tight knot. Interesting!) , throw it forward (wraps around shrouds). All of above also wrapped around my legs of course!

Kris

I tie the tail to my carriage, then sort of pool the excess on the plank upwind. I have tried a piece of elastic on my lifejacket and looping the tail there, but it can end up in massive tangles.

Hmmm, that got me thinking.
Maybe I could set up a little shock cord take up system(or maybe even a drum) inside the carriage. Only to take up the last 2 metres or so. That would still leave the sheet free to play upwind, but it would reduce the amount of rope to manage quite a lot.

Kris,

Did you (or anybody else) try that shock cord take up? Sounds worth trying. I'm finding the trailing mainsheet very distracting especialy when it's time to tack or gybe.
The experienced hands here must have it figured out. Maybe you just get accustomed to it.

Chris

Chris,

No, I didn't try it. I tried Christian's suggestions to tie the end of the sheet to the carriage, and that helped me sufficiently to move it down the priority list. Not sure if the intended space for it is still there after I add some more spaghetti elsewhere.

Still think it's worth trying. If it could be done light and reliable it could be a nice thing to have.

Kris, For the past 7years or so I've secured a piece of 2-3mm shockcord across the front of my lifejacket---not too tight, and slip the mainsheet tail knot through it. Found this to work really well. Great through the tacks as well and easy enough to release.Occasionally knot slips through if sheet gets snagged but all in all best method I've come across. ( Rob Michaels original idea)
Steve AC290 UK