13 USES FOR LOW-FRICTION RINGS
We often hear about trickle-down technology from the top echelons of yacht racing, but it’s not often you’ll find a modern take on an ancient idea on board a carbon-fibre race boat, let alone a cruising yacht. Yet the concept of a low-friction ring goes back hundreds of years; the humble deadeye has been brought up to date for good reason. Cheap, light, stong and effective; if you haven’t come across a low-friction ring, or have discounted them as a new-fangled gadget, think again. The traditional lignum-vitae wooden deadeye and bullseye, and the later metal thimble, are now a lightweight hard-anodised aluminium ring available for line sizes from 3mm to 26mm (with external diameters from 12mm upwards). Around the outside is a smooth groove for one line; used to secure the ring and in the centre is a hole that’s been rounded in all directions to allow one or more lines to pass through as fairly and freely as possible.
WHEN RINGS ARE BETTER
Low-friction rings can be used to replace blocks, but should you? A roller-bearing block can cost over 10 times as much as a ring with less than half the safe working load
