The mooring and towing of oil rigs and huge ships rely on the strength and durability of thick ropes and the splices that join those ropes. Yet the mathematical models used to evaluate ropes have long ...

One way to greatly increase the line capacity of an offshore reel is to use a backing of hollow-core braided line. Pound for pound, braid has a much thinner diameter than monofilament, so it’s ...

Mathematics is unpicking the secrets of a centuries-old nautical skill called splicing - joining two ropes together end to end by interweaving their strands 1. Chris Leech of rope and fibre ...

Twice a week, in the shadow of the tallest condo tower west of the Mississippi, a sailor named Romaine Dudley teaches one of the oldest skills of the seagoing trade - marlinspike seamanship. He ...