Yeoman_24
Well-Known Member
I, as I have seen on most yachts, have mine outside the shrouds of my Moody 30 but this season I’m thinking about moving them inside. Easier to go diagonally to the mast to reef and adjust kicker. Thoughts?
Jackstays. Inside or outside the shrouds. One for a PBO debate?
- Thread starter Yeoman_24
- Start date
[70521]
Well-Known Member
Only ever seen them on the inside.
lpdsn
Well-Known Member
No debate. I'd have to step over the guard rails and stand on the toe rail to go forward outside the shrouds.
chewi
Well-Known Member
mine are inside.
I can hook on at the cockpit and use the sprayhood, boom and mast as handholds to get to the foredeck via the cabin top.
I can hook on at the cockpit and use the sprayhood, boom and mast as handholds to get to the foredeck via the cabin top.
Neeves
Well-Known Member
+1
Same - thus jackstays inside.
Our chain plates are on the outside of the hull in common with most cats.
Iain C
Well-Known Member
It's a discussion not really worth having as it will totally and utterly depend on the design of the boat...
William_H
Well-Known Member
Jack stay should follow the path you will walk to move to the front of the boat. ie with the minimum places where you must change tethers. Being mindful that the closer to the centre line of the boat the less chance you will have of going over the side while attached. (tether should be so short you can not go over the side. So if jackstay is nearer the centre line you can have a longer tether. olewill
Yeoman_24
Well-Known Member
I can do either which is why I am asking for suggestions.
thinwater
Well-Known Member
Proof required.
I have heard VERY few stories of someone falling uphill, and many stories of people sliding down to leeward. Without concrete examples, I think what you say sounds compelling in writing but is less so when tested against statistics.
In fact, very, very few people fall while moving on the jackstays. They fall while working on something, like gathering up a sail. Again, check the statistics and read the stories. So the best practice is to hold on tight, and then clip something solid when you get where you are going.
lampshuk
Well-Known Member
Inside (on Moody31). There's more room to walk.
Iain C
Well-Known Member
In that case I'd almost be tempted to rig one either side of each shroud, of different colours or with INSIDE/OUTSIDE in permament marker at the cockpit end! Built in redundancy, and you can choose which line is best for the job in hand. Plus you can have 2 crew able to run up and down the deck clipped on but totally independent of one another.
Just don't do what I did after re-stepping my mast one year. Port one outside, stbd inside!
lpdsn
Well-Known Member
Well, if you've carried out a carefully planned experiment to determine which is best you're probably in the best position to report back.
Norman_E
Well-Known Member
It may depend where your shrouds are, mine are well inboard and its harder to go forward inside, however as I rarely go forward of the mast a jackstay led inside has advantages when working at the mast.
I have in fact considered fixing a stainless loop to the unused spinnaker pole track on the front of the mast (I don't have the pole). By fixing an attachment point about 6 feet up the mast so that I could clip one end of my safety line there, I would have no possibility of going overboard.
I have in fact considered fixing a stainless loop to the unused spinnaker pole track on the front of the mast (I don't have the pole). By fixing an attachment point about 6 feet up the mast so that I could clip one end of my safety line there, I would have no possibility of going overboard.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Our cap shrouds come down to somewhere in the middle of the deck, so the natural way forwards is outside. I rarely have to leave the cockpit on passage except to:
Pole out the jib
Set up the motoring cone
Hoist the courtesy ensign
I am aware of the arguments in favour of having the line inboard but this mainly applies if you are on the lee side. I shall therefore continue with my current layout, and if things are too boisterous will do what I occasionally do, which is to crawl for additional security.
Pole out the jib
Set up the motoring cone
Hoist the courtesy ensign
I am aware of the arguments in favour of having the line inboard but this mainly applies if you are on the lee side. I shall therefore continue with my current layout, and if things are too boisterous will do what I occasionally do, which is to crawl for additional security.
thinwater
Well-Known Member
That is a very solid practice. A Dyneema loop or $5.00 rock climbing sling would be easier, and why not just put it around the mast? A loop around the mast just above the goose neck is a good, simple answer for most boats. I had something similar on my last boat. I would leave the long tether on the jackstay and clip the loop with the short one, sometimes doubled to make it very short, which made for relaxing work at the mast.
(The cabin roof of a cruising catamaran is a nasty place to fall from. There are typically no hand holds and you will go over the lifeline, which is below your feet.)
Last edited:
Iain C
Well-Known Member
Well, if you've carried out a carefully planned experiment to determine which is best you're probably in the best position to report back.
It kinda went a bit like this...
Last edited:
lpdsn
Well-Known Member
It kinda went a bit like this...
If it stops you going over the side.
We once threatened to cover the foredeck with velcro if one particular bow-woman showed signs of trying to fall off again. She never made it completely over the side but had a few goes.
PetiteFleur
Well-Known Member
Definitely inside as there is more room. On a Moody 33 mk2.
D
Deleted member 36384
Guest
If the mast fails you take the line with it. I prefer not to be attached to any mast rigging. As a result of these debates I will be adding two jackstays down my coach roof passing each side of the life raft to the fore cabin hatch.
thinwater
Well-Known Member
I believe this concern falls squarely in that catagory of preparing for a failure you won't survive. If you are working at the mast when the boat rolls over (the probable cause) and you are one a jackstay you are also probably dead from the rag doll you just did. You are increasing risk working at the mast to protect against a very unlikely (that you are working at the boat at the exact moment the boat rolls) and probably unsurvivable risk. Rather like not wearing a seatbelt because it might trap you in the car (far more likely, in fact).