J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Climbing the mast

I am interested in how my fellow J-30 owners climb the mast. With only the single main halyard I have been very nervous about going any higher than the spin halyard will safely back up a parting main halyard. Granted the wire rope is pretty tough but I am not comfortable hanging my 220 pound self from it without backup. I remember a post talking about a block attached to the mast head to hoist a safety line. Short of pulling the stick, there doesn't seem to be a good way of making that modification. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to safely get to the top?

When our main halyard parted, we took a spinnaker sheet and ran it through the vang blocks (which provide a 4:1 mechanical advantage). We then attached a cunningham hook to the upper block. The crew was hoisted up in a bosun's chair to the hounds carrying a boathook and the block and tackle. He used the extended boathook to hook the upper block over the masthead crane and then used the block and tackle to hoist himself the last few feet. Once at the masthead, he used another shorter line to provide a safety line to the bosun's chair. NB - this worked for us, but anyone who tries it does so at their own risk. If I were to do it over, I would have had him mount a small cheek block on the side of the mast at the masthead and then run a small messenger line back down to the base. Then a much stronger line could be run when needed for work at the masthead ... or even for an emergency main halyard.

I once had to replace my main halyard, and our crew member actually went up a j-35 mast. We rafted to the other boat, and he went up with our (J-30) jib halyard, which he attached to the other mast. We winched the masts close together (about 2 feet), and he swung over to our mast to make the replacement. It was an experiment, but it did work, and he had two halyards from the j-35, so safety was covered.

220 lbs??? Give your crew a break! Find some 104 lb teenager and (s)he'll scurry up the last 12 feet to the top.

Yeah, I need to find some fearless, teenage mechanical genius. Either that or go ahead and pull the stick. Thanks for the advice.

We just lost our main halyard during a race and had to finish with a creeping down main. Made for a baggy downwind until it slipped too far! However, after trying to have a young-un scurry up the mast and determining we did too good of a wax job, we ended up rafting off of a Frers 45, climbing their mast and swinging over. Worked out well if you have someone willing to lend their big boat (and someone needing to prove their manhood). We had the crazy person doing this take the spin halyard with them and use that to swing the mast over. He then hung from the top of our mast using the Frers halyards for safety lines. Made for some good entertainment while waiting for awards.