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The death roll has not so much to do with the vang but mostly with sheeting out too far. The remedy is to sheet in quickly. In heavy winds, the Laser vang has to be as tight as possible all the time anyway because the class prescribed sails were too full and too stretchy (too light cloth) from the beginning. Furthermore, the death roll entailed a capsize to windward, not to leeward. Also see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_roll and ‘Laser Sailing for beginners and experts’, Dick Tillman, 1975, chapter "The death roll’, pages 53 and 54. I still own my Laser #48542, bought new in 1976.
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Tightening the cunningham has the same effect as tightening the halyard, it’s just easier because gravity helps. And of course Lasers have no halyard. And many dingies have top locks on their halyards, so these halyards can’t be used to stretch the luff rope. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunningham_(sailing). Any means of stretching the luff or foot rope has a positive effect on sail flatness. Flattening reef is just the non-patented name for cunningham hole or cunningham reef.
Herm, thanks for your input, I am learning all the time on this site. My last two boats had what I understood to be cunninghams but from your descrition this wasn’t quite right. In both cases the mains were hoisted by hand in the process lifting the boom to the top of a short track. The luff was then tensioned via a block under the goose neck, hauling it down. The F39 has a fixed gooseneck and no altenative tack to haul down unless reefed. Hence Michel’s suggestion re the halyard. You are right too that it will be a real bugger to retension. When I can afford a new sail I will have a cunnigham tack built in as you suggest.
Michel, thanks for that link. I will contact them and let you know how I get on.
Regards to all,
Mike,
It’s not that difficult to have a cunningham hole made in an existing sail; it’s like an extra luff reef cringle.
Michel, I have had a look at that site but haven’t found anything that looks right. Would you mind posting a picture of the device you are thinking of (boom brake). Southern Approach are based in town here so I can go in and see if they have anything similar. Thanks and regards,
Mike,
This is how an abseil (descender)-8 looks like:
And here’s how you put a rope through one:
The small eye hangs from the boom, the brake line goes through the large eye and around the middle section. The principle is simple; the tighter the line, the more friction. They might corrode when permanently outside; ask for the most corrosion resistant one if you want to leave it on the boom.
And here you find what they cost:
http://www.needlesports.com/acatalog/Mail_Order_Belay__Abseil___Ascent_13.html
Thanks Michel, you are a champion!
My recommendation for the implementation of the abseil is to attach it to a boom bail with a locking carabiner (the same item shown in Michel’s picture below), and to NOT leave it permanently attached for the following reasons.
The woven covered line which you see in Michel’s picture is a near necessity for this installation. You don’t have to use climbing rope, but don’t use “twisted nylon” with no sheath. The line diameter (in relation to the “eye” diameter) is critical to the amount of resistance, you’ll be using a fairly small diameter here. If it’s too great, the line will continually bind up as it “runs” through the eye, resulting in a jerky motion as the boom crosses over. We all know that lines which are continually exposed to salt water, salt air, and sun become stiff. This will change the way it handles dramatically. If you take the whole shebang (line, abseil, and carabiner) down and stow it below except when in use, it will continue to operate in a consistent manner for a long time. Also, it won’t “walk away” when you’re not there.
It takes very little resistance on the tail of the line to significantly impede the speed with which the line runs through the descender…sometimes the weight of the rope is enough to stop things completely. If a climber is descending on a long climbing rope that’s hanging freely beneath him, he ends up supporting the weight of the rope in one hand and “feeding” it through in order to be able to make any downward progress at all in the early stages of descent.
Note that this same “figure eight” is also available with curved “horns” on either side of the big ring. These horns are designed to allow the climber to “tie off” easily in mid descent, and you definitely DON’T want to buy one of these…a) it is more expensive…b) a flailing line would more easily become entangled, thus stopping the boom in mid-jibe…and…c) the horns would make a really ugly hole in someone’s head if they happened to be in the way during a jibe.
The locking carabiner is not going to be much different in price than the stainless steel shackle that you’d otherwise need, and it’s a lot easier to take on and off (it locks by means of a “screw-down” ring which keeps it from being opened.)
Do not buy one of the pretty little (or big) ones that hang on the walls at Home Depot and elsewhere. These are good for hanging tools from your boatswain’s chair, but if it’s stamped or tagged “not for climbing use”, then it’s not strong enough for this purpose either. They come in either aluminum or stainless steel. You won’t need the stainless steel one.
Something like this item below: (25 kilonewtons equates to a breaking strength on the order of 5,620 lbs…the boom bail will give way before that)
http://www.rei.com/product/710222
The same vendor (REI) has the figure 8 at
Thanks Katorpus, the Black Diamond brand is available at a local store so I should be able to find these items there. I take your point about line size. Would you have a suggestion of what size to try first? Thanks and regards,
John,
Thanks for your very good explanation of the figure-of-eight and the way to use it. You obviously have much more climbing experience than me. for myself I had indeed planned to make carabiner, abseil eight and rope a stow-away set because it crosses the side deck and interferes with the jacklines.
Mike–
3/8" or 7/16" double braided line will most closely match the climbing ropes for which the abseil is designed (and you AREN’T looking for “no-stretch” line here.) The initial breaking strength of the 3/8" is close to 4,700# and the 7/16" is 6,000#. Any knot and almost any turn in the line will reduce this dramatically (35% or more for a bowline), so even with the 7/16" the line,the boom bail, and possibly the toe rail attachment will be the “weak points” in the system (with the aluminum carabiner). Make sure your boom bail is held on by through-bolts with washers and not just put in with sheet metal screws. Ideally, the line should be the first thing to break. A “springy” line will minimize the chances of something else letting loose first if you happen to crash-jibe with a lot of slack in the system.
The real consideration in this (relatively low priced) rig is how to attach it to the boom. You can’t use the same bail that the mainsheet is attached to (due to interference and aggravation) and you can’t attach it to the vang attachment point either (for the same reason). I use a Dutchman boom brake attached to the vang attachment plate with the vang attached to the bottom of the brake. Through-bolting a bail anywhere but on the end of the boom will not be any fun. so plan on using those little threaded inserts (discussed elsewhere in this forum), but make sure they are big/strong enough.
If you have a loose-footed sail, you can tie the carabiner to the boom with a tubular webbing strap. You might have enough room to do this at the boom-end (just inboard of the existing bail) on a sail that’s attached along the boom at the foot, but it would likely interfere with outhaul operation, and you don’t want it jamming against the boltrope where it exits the slot at the leech.
As for “experience” (thank you, Michel), while we don’t have a whole lot in the way of “mountains” around South Texas, we do have plenty of cliffs, buildings, elevator shafts, bridges, and other high places that people can get in trouble in, particularly in some of the parks. I learned to climb back when I was a volunteer firefighter & Paramedic, and eventually taught what we called “High Angle Rescue Work” (Mountain Rescue by the same name in any other state) and helped judge the annual competitions between various civilian and military teams from throughout Texas.
These are the guys who go after climbers who have fallen, window washers who are hanging upside down on the sides of buildings, semi-truck drivers who are dangling off the edge of a 60’ triple overpass, tower climbers who are hanging upside down at the top of a 2,000’ radio tower, high-steel workers who are injured while constructing new buildings, people stuck in glass elevators on the outside of things like the Tower of the Americas in San Antonio (or inside an elevator in almost any building), carnival-goers on jammed Ferris Wheels…just about anytime where someone needs help who’s stuck or hurt somewhere more than 10’ off the ground. And it’s not just above ground…people get hurt or stuck in caves, kids fall down wells and storm sewers. Sometimes it’s necessary to rig up to pluck people out of trees and other places in the middle of a flooded stream (with or without a helicopter). The same techniques apply everywhere.
Well John, even your stories about these high angle/high altitude events give me goose bumps. My mast head is about as high as I dare to go. I did some rock, tower and indoor climbing but I developed a fear of heights over the years. When visiting the Eiffel tower, I stay on the ground. I will make a photo of the mast climbing equipment I use in conjunction with my bosun’s chair and would be pleased to hear your opinion about it (mainly about its safety) some time.
I’d be happy to do that, Michel.
People die all the time from 6’ falls off of a stepladder…the only difference in falling 50’ from the top of a mast and falling 2,000’ from the top of a tower is the amount of time you have to contemplate your imminent demise.
Things to consider…
ALWAYS have a “helper” on deck. There are all kinds of ways to get fouled up on a masthead (or on the way up or down).
Never climb a halyard, and never ascend in a boatswain’s chair on a halyard that’s more than 6 months old. The halyard cover is not meant for the abrasion of the climbing ascenders, and the strength of a halyard decreases rapidly with age/sunshine…if you’re climbing, use a two-blocked climbing rope pulled up BY the halyard, or, better yet, sew the climbing rope to the free halyard end and pull it all the way through so that all of the stress is on the climbing rope (inside & outside the mast…end to end). You can leave the two sewed together, tie off what would have been the free tail of the climbing rope onto your harness, and leave the sewed together halyard/rope dangling below you as you ascend, then pull it back through, and un-sew it when you’re done. You should use a ‘static line’ (minimal or no-stretch) for this. The dangling halyard makes a handy haul line in case you forget something when going aloft.
If your climbing rope is too short and you are faced with “two blocking” with a halyard or being hauled up on it in a chair and have any concern at all about halyard integrity, then sew a NEW line of appropriate diameter to the free end of the halyard and pull it through and tie off on the climbing line (the knot will then be two-blocked) or tie it to chair so that all your weight is borne by the new line. Make sure there is no more stress on the sewed joint than the weight of the line and halyard. You can then pull it back and “restore” your original (suspect) halyard to service without having to re-splice your halyard shackle.
Unless absolutely unavoidable (like when you’ve lost one of two halyards by either breakage or having it escape to the masthead), you should go up on one line and have a belay on another, even in a boatswain’s chair. You can accomplish this (with enough climbing rope) when climbing (but not when being hauled up) by the previously mentioned method (of pulling the climbing rope through) with a second rope tied (by prusik knot), pulling the knot all the way to the masthead and “two-blocking” it, then cleating off the climbing rope and ascending on the static line. You can “self-belay” on the extra rope by using another ascender attached to your harness and clipped on to your extra line (which is tied off down below) and just move it up the line as you ascend, or you can have someone belay you from below by holding light tension on the tail of the line which has been run through a figure-eight or rack on your climbing harness. Hopefully, they’ll be paying enough attention to stop your fall before you get back to the deck if things go south. The latter approach makes it much easier to get back down, particularly if you get tangled up in your rig. You’ll need a foot loop or two in your climbing rig in order to have some way to get your head higher than the masthead (since the length of the harness etc woun’t let you get close enough otherwise)…
You can climb up and then be lowered back down provided that your climbing line is more than 3 times the mast height with all the extra pulled through the halyard exit plate before you begin. Rappelling down is fun, if you know what you’re doing, but this isn’t the place to learn.
If you get hauled up in a boatswain’s chair on a single line with no belay (in order to retrieve or replace a missing halyard), then rig that halyard as a belay as soon as you get it back in service and before being lowered back down. It’s easy to slip out of a boatswain’s chair. Invest in a "sit harness"or rig one up out of rope and attach yourself to the chair/rig before ascending…
It’s difficult for one person to lower you down and belay at the same time, so the best approach there is for them to work one winch for the line you’re on and another for the belay, easing you down to the limit of the belay on the primary winch and then repeatedly tying off and resetting the belay and allowing no more slack in the belay than the distance that you’re willing to fall. Both the haul line and the belay should be routed through turning blocks in order to provide the appropriate “approach” to the winches. Cleat the lines when switching your attention back and forth between them. Do NOT simply leave them in the jammer of a self-tailing winch!
This is by no means an all-inclusive “short course” in climbing. It’s only intended to get you thinking about things we sailors sometimes take too much for granted… in hopes of preventing the need for your reflection on “what went wrong?” …from a hospital bed or wheel chair.
John,
Thanks again for your professional instruction. Unfortunately, you got me derailed already in the first sentence…always get a HELPER! Some of your other advice is also hard to implement if you’re in a crisis situation at sea. Imagine my typical situation: Alone aboard my catketch, cruising or racing and halfway between Scotland and Norway (or in mid-Atlantic) and my masthead wind unit packs up…
My main mast has an internal halyard and an external spare, my mizzen still has the original setup with external blocks and (two) external halyards. Blocks, shackles and halyards are three years old.
Up to now (from your story I now know better) I used two halyards as two static lines. I have two ascenders, one connected to my bosun’s seat, the other connected to a webbing ladder/loop for my feet. In that way I kick myself up the mast. The two Petzl ascenders (full handhold, one left-, one righthanded) are also connected to each other with a webbing strap. The ascenders are secured to the rope with carabiners, so I can’t take an ascender off the rope when I accidentally open the jaw too far.
I also tie a webbing strap around the mast in prusik style as an emergency brake if I might fall down. Every bit of gear is tied to myself with carabiners, no direct knots so it can be released in cases of emergency. I use a mountain style knot (double figure eight) to make loops in the end of rope.
Using climbing ropes sounds like a good idea; I can keep these in their bag inside until I need them and always be sure a have a reliable rope. Remains the problem of the always unreliable shackles in the masthead. The main mast has a top sheave, so that’s okay with a reliable rope. I like the idea of sewing the climbing rope to the halyard and pull the climbing rope all the way through.
I bought my abseil eight to be able to rappel/abseil down the mast, but I found it too much of a hassle and therefore too risky to get the eight on the rope and release both ascenders. I would then be hanging from one rope. So I kick myself down in the same way I get up.
My climbing set up is much like Michel’s,
I have mine set up stair stepper fashion rather than inch worm. I also use a rock climbing harness when I use this setup rather than the chair. I may convert to inch worm as I think that while it’s slower it’s probably safer and easier. I also put a strap around the mast prusic style as a fail safe. I have repelled down (from as high as 70 feet) on a boat in a flat calm marina, I don’t think I’d like to try it at sea! 
heh heh
Bar none my preferred way of going aloft these days is in the bosons chair, powered up by the 28 volt Milwaukee hole hog with a bit in the winch.
Thread split is eminent!
George
Ah…
That set of instructions wasn’t for “repairs at sea”…those were the “repairs in a quiet marina” instructions.
Repairs at sea are, of course, handled by whatever means necessary…up to and including free climbing the mast by wrapping your arms around it and using the sail track slides as footholds (no, I’ve never DONE this, but there was a time in my life that I wouldn’t have hesitated to try).
The “good” thing about repairs at sea (unless you’re in the doldrums) is that…if you fall, you stand a good chance of landing in the water (tongue in cheek)
My post was more designed as a “caveat” for those of our readers who, never having climbed anywhere in with any gear, might have been thinking…
“Gee, this sounds cool, I’m gonna go get some of this stuff and try it out”.
George, could you explain what stair stepper is as compared to inch worm? I don’t like to be an inch worm.
John, I figured that, and perhaps we can tap your experience a bit further about getting up and down at sea. My feet are too big for the slides, and they are 2’ apart. I know from the America’s Cup movie I’ve seen 4 times on a flight from Amsterdam to Singapore that these guys like to slide down the sail on their backs. And they only need five degrees of heel to do it. They are of course secured by a line and two guys on deck.
I have two individual ascenders hooked to separate foot loops.
George
Ah okay, now I get it. Inch worm is the contracting-extending movement of a worm’s body. But where is your harness attached to? I was planning to buy another ascender, one without handhold, to be attached close to my body, that slides up automatically when I move my body up. Only it requires utmost concentration to descend when you have to open and shove three ascenders in the right cycle. I doubt if my brain can cope with that challenge.
Hi all,
I was in Wellington over the weekend and wandered into a rock climbing school on the waterfront. Having read the foregoing and realizing that I knew nothing about climbing, other than the team approach to climbing a mast, I asked the guys there to recommend a method where by someone like me with limited upper body strength might climb a single rope to the top of a mast. Once the method was identified I asked them to teach me how to go about it and with not too much huffing and puffing I found I could make reasonable progress. The method involved an ascender above with a foot loop, working hand and foot together to gain height. Attached to the climbing harness by caribiner is a Grigri through which I took up the slack with my left hand. So hand and foot, grigri, rest. If need be the ascender could run on a paralell line and be taken back to the harness as a belay.
I will give it a try for real some time soon. It’s a bit slow so it might be wise to take my lunch with me.
I was interested in the discussion about suspect halyards. I am using 12mm braid halyards on the main and 10mm spectra on the foresail. I often use old 12mm braid, like too old and tired to be a good halyard, in my work maintaining mooring blocks. It supports the full weight of the mooring block and chain, close to two tonnes on a single loop through the chain, with no problem. Why would it be dodgy for a 85kg climber?