Masthead Form

Instructions and help about Masthead

Hi, I’m Boatswain Rick Horvath. I’m going to demonstrate for you how to do a Masthead. It’s quite simple. All we’re going to do is take three twists to the left, make three loops to the left. Here’s loop #1, loop #2, and here’s loop #3. Notice that you have two lines in the middle. All we’re going to do is we’re going to go in a pattern: over, under, and over, starting from left to right. Over, under, over. Now I’m going to go from right to left, so we’re going to go over, under, and I’m going to pull. You should have two loops coming off the side. Alright, all you’re going to do is pull that loop up, and that’s how you tie a Masthead. Basically what a Masthead is used for is to anchor up a Mast, if a Mast breaks and you’re underway or for sailing, your mast will go directly in the center and you will tie three strands, or three lines, to these loops and your mast will be held up by these lines.