4 Advice to Choose a mooring products

Mooring lines are the unsung heroes of boating, silently ensuring your vessel stays safely secured when docked or anchored. But with an array of materials, thicknesses and lengths available, selecting the right ropes can be daunting. Here, we explain the crucial factors to consider when choosing mooring lines for your boat. 

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Marlow Ropes has been the leading rope brand in the yachting industry for over fifty years, with a heritage in rope making going back over 200 years.

“Historically, we’ve found that mooring lines are the most over-looked ropes on any yacht. This is something we’ve always found baffling, especially when you consider that these are the most important ropes for securing your beloved boat. Sailors and boat owners often look at price first when buying mooring lines, which results in low quality, low durability and much shorter longevity. 

“At Marlow, we manufacture a range of mooring lines to suit all budgets – each with their own unique specification to suit the requirements that we often come up against. It’s worth sailors and boat owners being aware of the unique construction characteristics of the various mooring lines on the market.”  Paul Honess, Leisure Marine Director

STRENGTH IS PARAMOUNT 

The primary function of mooring lines is to withstand the forces exerted on your boat by wind, waves, tides and currents. These forces translate to breaking strength, the amount of weight a line can hold before snapping. The key is to choose lines with a strength that significantly exceeds your boat’s weight. Consult your boat’s manual or manufacturer for its displacement (weight) and factor in a safety margin of at least 3:1. 

MATERIAL MATTERS

• Nylon: Offers high elasticity, crucial for absorbing shock loads and preventing snapping. Bear in mind, it is known to degrade under UV exposure, resulting in reduced strength over time. 
• Polyester: Known for its strength, and resistance to abrasion and sunlight. It has a lower stretch than nylon, so consider using mooring shock absorbers for additional give. This is the most reliable material for mooring lines.  
• Polypropylene: A budget-friendly option with good buoyancy and moderate strength. Bear in mind, it stretches significantly and degrades quickly in sunlight. Only to be considered for its floating characteristics. 

MARLOW RECOMMENDS:  

3-strand Nylon  

Multi-plait Nylon  

3-strand Polyester  

3-strand Polyester Pre-stretched for greater strength and durability 

Marina Grande 

Blue Ocean® Dockline – sustainably manufactured from GRS certified rPET and available pre-spliced  

3-strand Nelson  

FINDING THE RIGHT SIZE

Mooring line diameter is directly linked to breaking strength. Use the breaking strength recommendations as a guide. Also, consider consulting a marine store professional for specific sizing based on your boat and typical mooring conditions. 

LENGTH MATTERS TOO

Mooring lines come in various lengths, with specific applications in mind: 

• Bow and stern lines: These should be at least half the length of your boat, ideally longer, to allow for mooring at different angles and absorb wave action. 
• Spring lines: Designed to prevent your boat from swinging excessively, these should be the entire length of your boat or even longer. 

DURABILITY

The marine environment is harsh, so consider factors that can degrade your mooring lines: 

• Abrasion resistance: Friction against docks, pilings and other boats can wear lines. So look for materials with good abrasion resistance or use chafe guards at potential wear points.  
• UV resistance: Constant sunlight exposure weakens most mooring lines. So choose materials with good UV resistance or consider adding a UV protectant spray. Polyester is best, with nylon a reasonable second and polypropylene a distant third. UV stabilising techniques help, but don’t significantly alter the general comparable resistance values of each material. Counteracting UV deterioration should be a major consideration for yachts, especially in sunny climes such as in the Mediterranean and the Tropics. 

COMFORTABILITY CONSIDERATIONS

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• Creaking mooring lines is a bugbear for many sailors and boat owners plus those living or working close by. It’s often not known what causes the dreaded creak – but chafe, caused by salt water, or the fibre quality degrading over time may be factors. The addition of chafe covers or a lubricant coating may help. Nylon shrinks when it’s wet, which can result in a tightening of the rope strands, thus creating a harder, stiffer rope. This may lead to creaking, but a stiffer rope may be of greater benefit for permanent single purpose warps. 
• Handling – Rope construction and diameter will make a difference to your comfort. Braided docklines, such as Marlow’s Marina Grande and Blue Ocean® dockline, not only look good but feel good too thanks to their flexibility and smoother finish. This makes them much easier to handle, especially in the stressful situation when coming alongside.  
• Coiling and hanking – For good rope maintenance, storing your mooring lines is vital to ensure their longevity and ease of use when it’s time to moor. A rope’s construction will dictate how it should be hanked. 3-strand ropes need to be rolled around your thumb to keep the lay in regular form. Whereas braided and plaited ropes should be formed into a figure of eight, to ensure twist is not imparted into the rope which puts undue pressure on to the fibres.   

INSPECT YOUR ENVIRONMENT

Mooring lines are a safety-critical element. Regularly inspecting them for signs of wear is good practice – replace them promptly when they show signs of deterioration. When in doubt, consult your local rigger or chandler for recommendations specific to your boat and mooring conditions.  

By making informed choices, you can ensure your boat stays securely moored, giving you peace of mind while you’re off enjoying the water. 

What is a mooring rope?

Mooring ropes are used to securely fasten a boat to a jetty, quay wall, pile mooring or bollard. These ropes are also known as shore ropes or boat ropes. Whenever your boat is not moving, mooring ropes ensure that it is held securely and undamaged at its berth. It is therefore crucial that your mooring ropes reliably support the weight of your boat and are of high quality.

Below you will find important expertise to help you choose the right mooring ropes. At Premiumropes, we manufacture your mooring ropes to your desired dimensions in 1-2 days and ship worldwide.

How can I recognize good mooring ropes?

Elongation

High elasticity in the mooring rope is crucial to compensate for the natural forces of waves and wind. Sufficient stretch prevents the boat from buckling into the mooring ropes. This protects the cleats on deck. In addition, being on board is much more comfortable when the boat moves more smoothly and less jerkily.
Tip: Additional integrated shock absorbers protect the attachment points, increase the stretch in the mooring rope and increase comfort on board.

High breaking load

The right mooring rope also has a high breaking load in order to withstand the loads even in extreme weather conditions and to keep the boat safely moored. It is important to pay attention to the correct breaking load. Undersized mooring ropes are not secure enough and oversized mooring ropes do not stretch sufficiently.
Note: The safety of the crew and boat is what matters here, not making any compromises!

Good abrasion resistance

Mooring ropes are generally exposed to high abrasion loads. A high abrasion resistance in the mooring rope is therefore very important. Polyester fibres are known, among other things, for their particularly good abrasion resistance. Polyester mooring ropes are very suitable for securely mooring a boat.
Not every fastening point on land is flawless. There is always a burr on cast iron, a sharp edge on concrete, a rusty ring/nail or rugged wood at the mooring point.
Tip: An additional spliced-in protective cover increases the abrasion resistance and thus increases the service life of a mooring ropes.

UV resistance

Although polyester fibres have particularly good resistance to UV light, these synthetic fibres are attacked by the sun's rays. Good protection against UV light is therefore essential. An average season in Central/Northern Europe lasts around 160-180 days. Depending on the time of year, there are months with up to 300 hours of sunshine. This illustrates how important the UV resistance of mooring ropes is. 

Flexibility

If a rope is very soft, flexible and pliable, it is described as having a high tenacity. This property is particularly important to ensure that the mooring rope can wrap well around tight bends on cleats and rings and does not loosen and come off when the load is removed. Sleek cordage also makes splicing work and coiling easier.

Just three steps to the right mooring rope

How long should a mooring rope be?

A mooring rope must not be too long or too short, but must be exactly the right length. It is best to have four mooring ropes of the same length and two slightly longer ropes that can be used as a spring rope or towrope, for example. The following rule of thumb has proven itself over time: Boat length in metres x 1.5 = length of the mooring rope in metres.

What diameter must a mooring rope have?

Rule of thumb (for boats under 60ft/ 18m):
Boat length in metres + 2 = diameter in millimetres
Example: 10 m (33 ft) + 2 = Ø 12mm

In order to determine the correct diameter of the mooring rope, the length of the boat and the fibre of the rope must be determined. Polyester mooring ropes have a higher breaking load than polypropylene mooring ropes of the same diameter.
If you are outfitting a boat or yacht that is significantly heavier than average, make sure that you select mooring ropes one size larger.
The table below shows our guidelines for the diameter of mooring ropes.

In the event of prolonged absence and/or storms, all mooring ropes should always be doubled.

Select rope construction, type of fibre and make-up as required

Choose a rope and the desired length and splice from our 8 mooring ropes. That's it!
We also stock ready-spliced and ready-to-use mooring ropes. Just choose the diameter and colour.

How to care for mooring ropes properly?

Sun, salt, sand and dirt leave clearly recognisable marks on the cordage. It is therefore advisable to check the mooring ropes and the rest of the running rigging at least once a year for damage, chafing and soiling. To get clean and supple mooring ropes again, you can simply put the ropes in the washing machine at 30°C without spinning with mild detergent.

If you don't want to put the washing machine through this level of soiling, you can also do the same by hand in a large tub. The important thing here is that all the detergent must be rinsed out of the cordage so that the surface of the cordage does not remain soapy and slippery.

When do mooring ropes need to be replaced?
 
Rule of thumb: The mooring ropes should be replaced after 10 years of use at the latest. If the ropes are damaged or defective, sooner of course!

Mooring ropes must be replaced if they no longer fulfil their purpose, i.e. if they can no longer hold the boat securely at the mooring in extreme conditions. How long a mooring rope lasts depends on various factors. Usage, load, damage, weather and neglected care have a negative impact on the breaking load and service life of a mooring rope.

All mooring ropes should always be checked for damage, functionality and safety. Check all mooring ropes regularly by running them slowly through your hand and inspecting all sides thoroughly. This will allow you to detect hard, brittle areas and protruding fibres.

Tip: Extremely stressed areas such as the inside of the eye splice or the point of contact with the cleat must be checked particularly carefully.

Note: Are you unsure how damaged your mooring ropes really are and how long they will last? Send us a photo via . We'll help you further!

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