Woodlouse
Well-Known Member
With the way people on this forum treat going aloft you'd be forgiven for thinking that any man who does so is lucky to come down alive.
Going aloft on a small boat
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Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
"Oh My God! Call the Fire Brigade"
onesea
Well-Known Member
It does seem that way... DO not know about hurley but can say a trident 24 (bildge keel) is good for 100kgs at the top of the mast. I am sure the Hurley would be fine to the spreaders.
As others have said use a ladder its probably easier...
Your going aloft, yes its going to me more hazardous than with your feet on the deck, but your on a boat so it is going to be more hazardous than when your feet on the ground...
Can all the HSE types out there bear this mind and keep there feet on the ground....
William_H
Well-Known Member
Well on my 21fter 27ft mast I would never go up the mast. I have done stability tests on the boat and it takes justt 30kg at the hounds when at 90 degrees of heel. (fractional rig not the top) so my 100 kg up the mast would definitely be a disaster. Of course initial stabilty is much greater than that and it takes a lot of pull sideways to get it near 90 degrees and of course at only a few degrees of heel the mass of a person is not far off centre. So what happensd if i go up the mast is that stability is lost to a degree such that with any wake the boats starts to roll back and forth. This pendulum actrion gets greater with each roll until it fall s right over. I must say the initial rolling as yopu go up is enough to put me off.
So yes definitely lower the mast. If the boat is on the hard well maybe it would be more stable but then on the other hand the hard is much harder than water. be careful olewill
So yes definitely lower the mast. If the boat is on the hard well maybe it would be more stable but then on the other hand the hard is much harder than water. be careful olewill
jdc
Well-Known Member
Umm, I was advocating just climbing the mast just as you were: far from an HSE man, moi!
I was criticising the idea that if it was inadequately stable if one simply climbed the mast it would be more stable if one used a ladder leaning against the mast - that seems to me to be poor physics.
PS: has no one got a GZ or RM curve for the Hurley? See post 20.
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bikerbill
Well-Known Member
I was up at my Hurley 20 today to check for storm damage, the cockpit was full of water and the mainsail had to be removed by Marina staff. Will start a new thread re the cockpit. Anyway, I climbed up the mast to the spreaders quite easily (hands were freezing) So, I would be confident using a ladder. However, just below the spreaders there is rigging attached to the mast going to the toe rail. Conclusion is that pulleys for a lazy jack would need to be lower than the spreaders.
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
I never suggested that a ladder would improve stability. It will (provided you kept it on the centreline. Some people seem to think you would put it against the toerail.) make it easier to climb and keep your mass on the centreline of the boat.
If the boat is unstable with 70/90 kgs aloft I would suggest being very careful about hoisting any sails, if there is any wind.
William_H
Well-Known Member
High Phil. The stabilty curves for my little boat would indicate (if they existed) that the boat is initially stiff from form stability. This is predominant probably to around 45 degrees of heel. It takes 2 or 3 people to pull a halliard sideways to get it to lean over. It is the range beyond 45 degrees where it takes less pull at the hounds to pull the boat down to horizontal. ie on my boat about 30kgs On a heavy 24ft fin keel more like 50 kgs to hold it down.(We tested a few boats at one time)
So I am not saying that 100kgs up the mast of a small boat will necessarily capsize it. But the loss of stability with weight aloft coupled with this pendulum swing motion which may be started by wash could if not actually bring it down, certainly alarm the climber into thinking it will happen. DSC_1897.jpg (96.1 KB) You might note from this picture just 2 hands top left hand corner holding the mast down. Yest in sailing it is adequately stiff and perfoms well. This test was done to prove compliance with YA stability requirements for Cat 5 racing. This may be an answer to OP question of how to get to the top of the mast. Note the bow and stern and tethered so she can't move sideways. Then just pull a halyard (hard) good luck olewill
lustyd
Well-Known Member
I just thought of a test which would give me confidence to go aloft. Get a halyard and tie a knot in it or something to hold on to. Use this to swing sideways from the boat as far as you can and see what happens. I'm confident on my boat the boat will come down with me and so I don't go aloft. On a 24 footer I would expect a little movement but the boat to remain essentially upright and so going aloft would be safer. That still leave the issue of a safety rope on a small boat though as mine has no fittings which would hold my weight and certainly doesn't have a winch for someone to use to give me a good safety line.