BOAT-COMPARATOR Guide

4 essential sailing knots for your boat rental

Clove hitch, cleat hitch, figure-eight and reef knot: the four knots really worth knowing before your boat rental, explained simply and what each is for.

You do not need a whole manual for a successful rental. Four knots cover the essentials: making fast, turning a line onto a cleat, stopping a rope and joining two ends. Learn them before departure, practise them at the pontoon until you can tie them with your eyes shut, and you will handle the boat with far more confidence, without holding up the quay at every stop. There is no better way to enter an unfamiliar harbour with a clear head, sure that your lines will hold.

The clove hitch

Quick to tie and untie, the clove hitch is used to make fast to a ring, a rail or a post, and to hang fenders on the guardrail at the right height. Two wrapped turns that cross over one another, and it holds. Its limit: it can work loose under changing loads or a pull that shifts direction, so you back it up with one or two half hitches to secure it. It is the ideal knot for quickly adjusting a fender before coming alongside.

The cleat hitch

At the pontoon, the cleat hitch is the move you will repeat most, at every arrival and departure. A full turn round the base of the cleat to take the load, then crossing figure-eights around the horns, and a locking turn on top. Neither over-tightened nor sloppy: it must stay easy to release, even under tension when the boat pulls on it. It is the everyday knot for any renter, and the first to master.

The figure-eight knot

The figure-eight is a stopper knot: placed at the end of a sheet or halyard, it stops the rope running out and escaping through a block or clutch, which would leave you chasing a sheet gone to windward. Easy to recognise by its 8-shaped loop, it does not jam when loaded and undoes easily, even after taking strain. A handy reflex on a sailboat as much as on a day-cruiser.

The reef knot

The reef knot joins two ropes of similar diameter or closes off a stowage: bag, cover, makeshift reef tied round a boom. Left over right, right over left, and it stays flat and symmetrical. Be careful, it is not a safety knot: never use it for a vital load or to hold heavy weight, but it renders real everyday service on board.

Practise before you leave

Rehearse these four knots calmly at home, with a plain length of rope, until you can tie them without looking and one-handed where possible. Our guide to your first bareboat sailboat charter puts them back in the context of early manoeuvres in port. And on Boat-Comparator, compare offers to pick a boat you can handle, ideal for building confidence.

Compare the platforms now →

Also worth reading

• How much does it cost to rent a boat in 2026? Real prices
• License-Free Boat Rental in France: Rules, Prices & Where to Book
• Renting with or without a skipper: how to choose