sailmaker's whipping

sailmaker's whipping, used in cases where it is essential that whipping (see whip) will not slip or come adrift. It is made by unlaying the rope between 5 and 7 centimetres (2–3 in.) and passing a bight of the whipping twine over the middle strand, leaving the two ends of the twine, one short and one long, and the bight hanging downwards. The rope is then laid up again and the turns of the whipping passed round the rope using the long end of the twine and working against the lay of the rope and towards the end.

When the whipping is long enough to take the bight, it is passed up outside the whipping, following the lay of the strand over which it was originally placed, and finally over the top of the same strand. The short end of the twine is now hauled taut, so that the bight is tightened, and is itself then brought up outside the whipping, again following the lay of the rope. The whipping is completed by joining the two ends of the twine with a reef knot concealed in the middle of the rope.

See also common whipping; west country whipping.