Page 193 - The Knot Bible

Figure-eight fl ake
KNOT SCORE
If you need to run a line out quickly with minimum risk of it getting tangled, Strength
forget all your fancy coils and use a fl ake instead. The most common use of Security
fl aking is for anchor warps and mooring lines, when a tangled line can cause Diffi culty Tying
Diffi culty Untying
disaster, particularly in heavy weather. And, if your anchor chain is prone to
Usefulness
jamming, it might pay to fl ake that on deck too before you drop anchor.

1 Starting from the standing end of 2 Form a fi gure-eight, and lay it 3 Keep forming overlapping
the line, form a couple of turns on over the previous turns so it partly fi gure-eights, stacking them in the
the deck. overlaps them. direction the line will be released.

4 To release the line, pull the end KNOT KNOW-HOW
at right angles to the turns.
The fi gure-eight fl ake is just one of many
fl akes available to the eager line handler.
A long fl ake is a series of turns laid
side by side on the deck, and released
longitudinally. The French fl ake is the
same, but released at right angles to the
turns. A Flemish down is the same as the
French fl ake, but with overlapping turns.
A Flemish fl ake is not a fl ake at all – it’s
a cheese (page 194)!

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