Until we can get a category on the Forum for rules questions you can post your questions on this topic or Email them to me at the address below. I will try to answer you as quickly as possible but please keep in mind I have a job and the issue in question may take some research on past rulings on technical information.
Larry Christy
J30 Class Measurer
alchristy@comcast.net

Two Questions:

1)Stanchions, do we have to use the ones from Rig Rite, or can we use any stanchion that meets the same measurements, i.e., diameter height and lifeline height?

2)Lifelines, do they have to be rubber coated? I have to replace mine and, I would like to go to bare wire.

Why use bare wire?

Just curious

The advantage of bare wire is that any deterioration of the cable will be easily visible on inspection. The rubber coating hides rust, fraying etc. Ironically enough, the same concealment/protection also retards the exact same problems. So the equation comes down to: safety vs. longevity. (Of course, true racing obsessives add weight of the coating into the mix as well. But if you read the "How much does a J-30 weigh?" thread, the coating weight does not compare to basic hull weight differentials of 400 pounds or so.)

The class should at least encourage (if not require) all reasonable modifications that increase safety at sea. I do believe (even with my coated wire) that bare cable falls in that category. I also believe that the lifeline gate enhances ease of man overboard recovery. Weren't all J-30's equipped with a standard gate?

No, the gate was an option.

My guess is that bare wire isn't particularly crew friendly... but I'm in the back, so don't really care that much

I replaced my lifelines a few years ago with coated wire, and my rigger told me that the ORC regs were about to change to ban coated wire (grandfathering in existing installations) for the same reasons stated above. If this can be verified, the class should probably allow uncoated wire.

ORC guidelines advise bare wire. Larry C. has assured me bare wires are ok. Gate is optional. But rope strops (versus turnbuckles) are not. I like the idea of strops (per ORC guidelines) over turnbuckles for the same safety reason Steve likes the gate - easy to cut and loosen the lines. The class objection, if I understand it, is that we wont take care and maintain the strops, so they will rot over the years and the lifelines will fail. I wouldn't let lines rot on my boat, but I understand, if not agree with, the point. We're supposed to carry a wire-rope cutter anyway, so as long as you can find it in an emergency, it suffices.

I was once on a Mumm 36 with rope strops. 'Twas blowing snot, everybody hiking hard, and of course a strop failed. One of the crew came quite close to swimming. Without quick action by her rail mates, she would have.

While rope strops might be easy to inspect, they probably fail more often than steel fittings.