Jacklines

[GreggL]

I Purchased a set of 40 foot jacklines for my hunter 33. Can anyone please provide some advice on placement and use, etc.. Thanks!

[Pete the Cat]

Mine go from forward cleat to aft cleat inside the shrouds, under the sheets and over everything else. Idea is to minimize or eliminate the need for unclipping at any time to navigate the deck. I would suggest that, if you are sailing where you are concerned about overboard issues, that you consider installing a ring (Wichard makes a nice flush-mounted one that is standard on Hallberg Rasseys) reachable from the companionway so that you are clipped in when emerging from below. My offshore experience suggests that in snotty weather you are about as likely to be pitched off balance at this time as when you are going forward or aft.

[GreggL]

Thanks. How tight would you make the lines?

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by GreggL

I Purchased a set of 40 foot jacklines for my hunter 33. Can anyone please provide some advice on placement and use, etc.. Thanks!

I use non-stretchy line connected with trucker's hitches, but I don't put it near the shrouds. I put it inside the cabin top. I don't like a long tether.

I also make sure my ladder can be dropped from outside the boat and trail a drag line. I sail my boat by myself and I want a chance to get back on to the boat.

[GreggL]

thats great. thank you for the help.

[ice]

Originally Posted by GreggL

I Purchased a set of 40 foot jacklines for my hunter 33. Can anyone please provide some advice on placement and use, etc.. Thanks!

In principle you want the jacklines as close to the centerline of the boat as is practical. That will help them help you actually stay on board. How easy this is to do depends on the specific deck layout and hardware, but it is worth adding a padeye or two to accomplish it.

Current thinking is generally to have the jacklines pretty tight - again so there is not a lot of stretch and slack to allow you to reach over the side.

Many of the typical side deck jacklines set-ups will quite easily allow you to go over the side of the vessel.

It's also worth thinking about (and actually practicing) how you are going to get someone who is over the side on a tether back on board. Using a spare halyard (trysail or spin) is usually a good technique. Unless you are young and really fit you are probably NOT going to just pull them back on.

[rtbates]

IF run along the side deck nylon webbing is preferred as it doesn't roll when stepped upon...

ALWAYS go forward on the high side. And if really rough I prefer to do this by sitting on the cabin with my feet on the side deck and sliding along... Much harder to get pitched over the side...

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by rtbates

IF run along the side deck nylon webbing is preferred as it doesn't roll when stepped upon...

Just a small correction to that . . . polyester/dacron webbing is prefered. It's more UV resistant than nylon.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by rtbates

IF run along the side deck nylon webbing is preferred as it doesn't roll when stepped upon...

ALWAYS go forward on the high side. And if really rough I prefer to do this by sitting on the cabin with my feet on the side deck and sliding along... Much harder to get pitched over the side...

I do not want to sound argumentative but a few months Boatman posted the opposite. His argument was that if you go forward on the lee side you are leaning into the heal of the boat, a more natural position.

Me? I run my jackline down the center and go out through what would normally be the dodger windows, using a tether that is long enough for me to move, but too short for my torso to go past the life lines. But hey I am the admitted rookie here and trying to learn from guys who have forgotten more about blue water than I have learned!

Thanks

Bill

[rover88]

I don't know how well you can see the jacklines, but they run from the bow to the cockpit and are high visibility red tubular dacron stretched rather tight to keep from tripping on them. They are connected to 2" eye pads with backing plates. Another set runs the length of the cockpit.

[Bash]

Field test them in the dock. After you rig them, actually don a harness and clip in. Can you walk fore and aft? Can you crawl? Could you do it at night on a wet foredeck in a pitching sea?

A field test is going to answer your question far better than some dude on the internet. We don't even know whether your boat has a dodger, to begin with.

For what it's worth, I don't sweat the jacklines to tighten them. This is because I've got a beamy boat and I always go forward on the high side.

[estarzinger]

Just thought I would post several relevant points from the ISAF special offshore regulations, which is the 'official' thinking on all this . . .

Jackstays:

i attached to through-bolted or welded deck plates or other suitable and strong anchorage fitted on deck, port and starboard of the yacht's centre line to provide secure attachments for safety harness

ii comprising stainless steel 1 x 19 wire of minimum diameter 5 mm (3/16 in), high modulus polyethylene (such as Dyneema/Spectra) rope or webbing of equivalent strength

iii which, when made from stainless steel wire shall be uncoated and used without any sleeving

iv 20kN (2,040 kgf or 4,500 lbf) min breaking strain webbing is recommended

Clipping Points:

(a) shall be provided, attached to through-bolted or welded deck plates or
other suitable and strong anchorage points adjacent to stations such as the helm, sheet winches and masts, where crew members work for long periods. It is strongly recommended that static safety lines (eg dedicated/fixed tethers) should be securely fastened at work stations

(b) which, together with jackstays and static safety lines shall enable a crew member:

i to clip on before coming on deck and unclip after going below
ii whilst continuously clipped on, to move readily between the working areas on deck and the cockpit(s) with the minimum of clipping and unclipping operations.

c) The provision of clipping points shall enable two thirds of the crew to be simultaneously clipped on without depending on jackstays

Warning - a safety line and safety harness are not designed to tow a person in the water and it is important that the shortest safety line length possible (together with the most center-line possible clipping-in point) be used with a harness to minimise or eliminate the risk of a person's torso becoming immersed in water outside the boat, especially when working on the
foredeck. 1m safety lines or the midpoint snaphook on a 2m line should be used for this purpose. The diligent use of a properly adjusted safety harness and the shortest safety line practicable is regarded as by far the most effective way of preventing man overboard incidents.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Bash

Field test them in the dock. After you rig them, actually don a harness and clip in. Can you walk fore and aft? Can you crawl? Could you do it at night on a wet foredeck in a pitching sea?

A field test is going to answer your question far better than some dude on the internet. We don't even know whether your boat has a dodger, to begin with.

For what it's worth, I don't sweat the jacklines to tighten them. This is because I've got a beamy boat and I always go forward on the high side.

I prefer moving on the high side also. On the low side your center of gravity will pull you toward the edge of the boat. On the high side, your center of gravity pulls you toward the middle.

[Land an]

Boy am I glad I found this thread. I am a newbie and will be out alone at times. The idea of going over has been playing in my head.

Is it advisable to have two clips on the harness. The second to be used to clip on past an obstacle without having to first unclip the first clip? And I guess rule #1 is not to have obstacles along the jack line.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by Land an

Boy am I glad I found this thread. I am a newbie and will be out alone at times. The idea of going over has been playing in my head.

Is it advisable to have two clips on the harness. The second to be used to clip on past an obstacle without having to first unclip the first clip? And I guess rule #1 is not to have obstacles along the jack line.

Welcome to the forum.

Moving about the boat with two tethers is indeed standard practice. Always clip the lazy tether before unclipping the active tether.

We keep numerous tethers at the companionway entrance so that anyone going out into the cockpit can grab a couple beforehand. Likewise, when someone returns below the tethers are dropped off where someone else can use them. That way, half a dozen tethers can go a long way during a passage.