Would you go up the mast when on the hard?

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Actually, in the 2000 Triangle, one entrant confirmed his IRC certificate had been accepted that morning by Mobile Phone, as he passed Lands End on Leg One ! And no, we didnt all protest him.
 
In Future have the common to take the mast down!
Not only does it preserve your boxer shorts, it increases the life of the mast, rig and fittings
How many boats are prematurely de-masted, being left up for half the year in the worst weather.
The last few days probably aged your rigs by a year or two.
 
Best answer of all...

.. in fact that is what I did the last two times except that I connected the hose directly to the seawater intake. Although the heat exchanger usually has a drain, a small amount of salt water still gets left. The antifreeze acts more in it's capacity as a corrosion inhibitor in this case.

Steve Cronin
 
Re: Absolutely NOT

In practical terms, the weight is at the masthead as soon as you put your weight on the halyard, because the moment is transferred to the sheave at the top of the mast from then on.
 
Not true. Masts suffer far more damage stored off the boat. Furling and wind gear get bent, bulbs get stolen, aerials get vandalised and we haven't started on the problems of getting the thing off and back on. Water accumulates inside instead of running out, corroding fittings and cables.

At start of winter, make sure all standing rigging is tight. Replace all running rigging with polypropylene and take the real stuff home for laundering. The metal bits are perfectly capable of surviving the winter standing up, provided they cannot move.
 
Re: Absolutely NOT

Yes - but the toppling moment is caused by the horizontal displacement from the centreline - not the vertical
 
The last few days have probablt aged the mast by a year or two???? If that's the case goodness know how many centuries of ageing will take place when the poor chap hoists the sails!!
 
Certainly not if there was no need to.

In this case there is definitely no need to go up your master.
In fact was no need to have two people on board.
all you need to do is to attach your halyard to a spare slide and your tape measure to the shackle of your halyard, if you are not sure about the strength of your tape measure attach a down all as well.
Then for all the slide plus tape measure/down all up as high as it will go.
Take your measurements. (don't forget the distance from the deck to the top of the broom) and then retrieve the tape measure slide and halyard in the normal manner.
I personally would never leave a mast up during the winter anyway it is definitely false economy.

(:-{)>
 
I just put the mast back up - it\'s almost Spring!

It's been down for two months geting re-wired / new aerial, new lights and it was re-fitted last week in readiness for sailing on the first weekend of March.

March IS the beginning of the sailing season, right?
 
NO NO No no

The problem is not anything to do with falling off the top where you'll are afloat for ashore you'll make the same dent in the deck. The problem is with the leverage weather course caused by a windage or by the way to being slightly out of the vertical, and have nothing to do with straining the rigging more to do with straining the bottom of your boat, in normal circumstances your boat is supported for her full length and fall beam and full draft by a beautiful cuddly force namely water. When ashore if you're rich 4X four inch square pads holding the boat up, if you're not you may be lucky and have six or 8. The problem is their total area is a minute compared with her normal element therefore be pressure put on them is vast. For the damage you would do is not to be making all the deck all the top sides it will be done up to the most expensive part of the boat to do any repairs to. Not so long ago there was a number of Moody's that blew over in a gale

(:-{)>
 
Ian, you and I may frequent that sort of yard, where boats are struck over and shored off with precision and an eye to the prevailing wind, then carefully covered, but les plastiques don't. They leave their metal masts up and their boats in "cradles" supported at four points only. That's why their insurers tell them to renew their rigging every ten years.
 
Enlist the help of a pupil doing O-Level or A-Level maths. Ask them to bring their friend SOHCAHTOA and a clinometer with them. They will measure the angle between the end of your connected boom and the line from here to the top of your mast. Using TAN=OPPOSITE/ADJACENT they will calculate the distance from the top of your mast to your goose neck. They will take a few photographs and write up this activity and submit it as coursework for this years exam. And will thank you.
 
Re: no starting engines?

Have run engines on the hard as well,

My tips

1 Boat must be well blocked

2 a good water supply,

3 Plenty of ventilation

4 care around prop area as to visitors

5 be aware for changed harmonics / vibrations. I think most people who have run an engine on the hard have been suprised by the lack of vibration

6 dont over do it / or think about it especially with single cyl powered lumpy engines in wood vessels.

7 where will the exhaust run off water go.

Once was told not to do so on solent yard, danger of falling over, to which after a long argument was retracted to it is ok, Run them after dark ast we dont want every body doing it!


I supose the purists will say it invalidates the insurance , but so does living.



David
www.yachtman.co.uk
 
NO NO No no again

The mass of the boat when ashore is carried on the keel. The load on the cradle supports is quite small, assuming the boat to have been laid up correctly, vertical. I can lower two of the four supports under my hull simultaneously, on opposite sides, without any problems. When standing on my Yacht Legs, the ones with the compensating springs, it is possibile to adjust them to have almost no compressive force on either side, assuming little wind.
 
Re: \"assuming little wind.\"

at my club, all boats are lifted at the end of the season, and it is very common to see someone up the mast whilst the boat is on the hard. I cannot recall any accident or damage in 10 years - just make sure its not howling a gale, you're not swinging like a chimp, and the boat is properly chocked / supported with the mast vertical.

to be honest, i wouldnt go up my mast if the boat wasnt on dry land. too bouncy by far at sea.
 
What?

My boat's in a new cradle, supported at six points and protected to the rear (6 feet aft) by a 100 foot cliff.

I don't understand the logic in dropping the mast. Easing off the tension on the rigging is all that is required, and then that's now worse than sitting in the water and going saling most weekends.

One reason why I don't take the mast down is because she's only out of the water for 4 weeks a year. Apart from that, removing the mast is when things get broken, shrouds and winches get nicked, and your roller furling foil gets dented.

Now, if you have a wooden mast I suppose there's some logic in dropping th ething - but I have seem wooden masts loose their shape standing upright ...

... and my insurance company knows full well how old my rigging is and they haven't asked me to renew it - in year 12
 
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