Climbing a mast.... minimum size boat needed?

M

mattnj

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 Jul 2007
Messages
1,362
www.red-data.co.uk
What is the minimum size boat you need to be hoisted up the mast....(rule of thumb) let's say an average 80kg chap.... we'll I'm not sending them up the mast on my Topper....but what about a 22ft boat....where is the line do we think?
 
I think there must be some formula for this relating climbability to age. I didn’t climb my 22’ boat’s mast and I don’t think that I ever went up the 26’ either, but didn’t need to. I did go up the Sadler 29, which was easy. On the whole, smaller boats tend to have less powerful winches, and in my hands, this is what would limit the weight hoistable. The person or child going up a 22-footer would need to be able to cope with the much greater movement, and a mast of that size would not be impossible to lower anyway.
 
I've seen someone climb the mast of a topper, and more often seen someone up the mast of our local keelboats (no cabin) they are all around the 20 -25ft size 1/2 ton of lead or iron underneath is a good counter balance..
 
I went up the mast of a mate’s Copeland Fox 22. It started to pendulum so badly at one point that at near top of mast I was no more than 8 ft from the water! Boat was on a swinging mooring and admittedly there was a fair bit of chop. You live and learn eh?
 
I climbed my Four 21 mast with wife swigging the halyard. Most important lesson learned - ask wife not to return to the cockpit and leap in (when looking for "the screwdriver").

The resultant oscillations were alarming!
 
mattnj said:
What is the minimum size boat you need to be hoisted up the mast....(rule of thumb) let's say an average 80kg chap.... we'll I'm not sending them up the mast on my Topper....but what about a 22ft boat....where is the line do we think?
Click to expand...
80kg (12stone 8lb) is 'average', is it?

Thanks pal, you've just spoilt my day! ?
 
The rule of thumb is keep it upright. It's quite possible to climb an unstayed pole so long as you keep the CG central. Once off centre then mass x distance vs the stability curve of your boat will decide the outcome.
 
fredrussell said:
I went up the mast of a mate’s Copeland Fox 22. It started to pendulum so badly at one point that at near top of mast I was no more than 8 ft from the water! Boat was on a swinging mooring and admittedly there was a fair bit of chop. You live and learn eh?
Click to expand...
Quite adventurous to go up the mast of a boat of this design:)
 
Assuming that you have the ability to get to the top of the mast (re a powerful enough winch), there is an easy and safe way of assessing the stability before you get up there.
Sit in your bosun's chair (attached to the halyard), and take your feet off the deck - your weight is now effectively immediately at the masthead.
Swing gently from side to side - what effect does this have? If it scares you, don't bother to go any further.
 
When I had a 22ft race boat and had a problem with the top of the mast, it was just as easy to drop the mast. One day when the mainhalyard jammed due to excess spaceeither side of the sheav e, we went alongside a larger boat and using their spinnaker pole, lifted the mast off so we could fix the problem on the water.
 
At 17.5 Stone my son has to hoist me up the mast of my boat. However, my wife can winch me up a few feet, before tiring, which she has practiced. This is because she may have to winch me out of the water on my spinnaker pole up haul one day.
When, in my 20s, I was 14 stone, my mates would hoist me up the mast of my Stella ( 25ft 9 ins) on a block & tackle- no winch. It would be swigged with the end around a cleat at the base of the mast.
I used to do this several times a year. Several times the ferry man at Burnham, (with whom I was on speaking terms sometimes :() would delight in taking his "bathtub" within 6 feet of my boat, when I was up the mast. I would subsequently swing through 120 degrees, like a clock pendulum, to the delight of him & his passengers.
 
mattnj said:
What is the minimum size boat you need to be hoisted up the mast....(rule of thumb) let's say an average 80kg chap.... we'll I'm not sending them up the mast on my Topper....but what about a 22ft boat....where is the line do we think?
Click to expand...
Boat size is just one of several factors that when combined may indicate a dangerously low safety factor. Crew weight, height of mast, hull form stability, ballast ratio, ballast righting moment, etc. I have no stability problems going to the top of my mast but the fact that the boat is 23ft on deck is irrelevant.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
The Q said:
I've seen someone climb the mast of a topper, and more often seen someone up the mast of our local keelboats (no cabin) they are all around the 20 -25ft size 1/2 ton of lead or iron underneath is a good counter balance..
Click to expand...
Certainly a lot safer than a raised lifting keel.
 
Bajansailor said:
Assuming that you have the ability to get to the top of the mast (re a powerful enough winch), there is an easy and safe way of assessing the stability before you get up there.
Sit in your bosun's chair (attached to the halyard), and take your feet off the deck - your weight is now effectively immediately at the masthead.
Swing gently from side to side - what effect does this have? If it scares you, don't bother to go any further.
Click to expand...

Excellent litmus test. Also...

The winch is not a limitation. There are many other ways to climb a mast, using your legs instead of your arms. My Stiletto 27 had a 40-foot rotating mast that was impossible to lower unless on the trailer, and no winches, but climbing it was not hard because the boat was stable (catamaran).

At about 24 feet it starts to get easier to just lower the mast, depending on the work to be done. Beach cats have longer, heavier masts than most 22-foot monohulls. If there is a hinge, it is quite easy.
 
I regularly go up the mast of my 22ft Dehler, but only as far as the gooseneck :rolleyes: :D

Seriously though, with no ballast to speak of cowardice is my watch word as the once or twice I have tried the boat tells you very early on it doesn't like it and I don't have a head for heights anyway. With built in lowering gear its hardly any more difficult to hinge the mast back, do what needs doing and wind it back up. Even that has its moments (geddit ?)

On the pontoon at Rutland water we just used to pull the mast/boat over on its side with the halyard, and as long as a human hung on to the halyard firmly......well nobody was Trebucheted across the reservoir as far as I recall :ROFLMAO:
 
I once reached a halcyon 23 masthead by winching the mainsheet down to a bollard on the pier at low tide. Got it down low enough to reach with a pair of stepladders
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top