how strong are stanchions?

[Poignard]

Could be psychological or mayhe it's a subliminal reminder of where the boundary between safety and danger lies. I must say that in more than 25 years of sailing, guadrails have never had to stop me going over the side but I have had two bruising falls after trying to jump over them in a hurry!

 

[James_Calvert]

Not a Chuck Paine design, by any chance?

No, a Sadler 32.

I have had a stanchion bent and base broken because another boat fouled it at my berth. Lot of difference between 5 tons of boat and say a 100kg person. And the guard rails couldn't have helped alleviate the stresses at the angle concerned. Fastenings remained undamaged.

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

Could be psychological or mayhe it's a subliminal reminder of where the boundary between safety and danger lies.

I tell people who sometimes come sailing with me that beyond the toe-rail there is a 1,000 metre sheer drop; it is part of the briefing before we cast off from the pontoon. This is what I was taught as a young lad and it must be true because until now, at the age of seventy, I have never ever fallen overboard, not even when the first boat-with-a-lid that I had was not fitted with guard wires!

 

[PuffTheMagicDragon]

The sort of strong arrangement that pilot boats have.

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Having guard wires/rails at the edge of the deck would make the pilot's access to the Jacob's Ladder more hazardous for them when boarding a ship.

 

[Poignard]

Having guard wires/rails at the edge of the deck would make the pilot's access to the Jacob's Ladder more hazardous for them when boarding a ship.

Just as they pose a hazard for me tripping over them!

Also, they would soon get damaged by contact with ships's sides.