training on a boat and weight a mast/boom can handle?

[Sailor L]

Hello all,


Im new to the forums and fairly new to sailing. Short story, my girlfriend and I are on the verge of buying a 46' ft wooden sailboat with a steel hull, ketch rigged (she is an old timer), we know what we are getting ourselves into and we are willing to learn and work. but that is besides the point. Im come from a sport/fitness/crossfit background. So ive been playing sports and working out practically my entire life. Now I want to continue this on the boat and this is were my dilemma starts.



I want to do pull ups and bring my rings with me on the boat. Now the first question is how much weight can the mast handle? Im a 2m tall guy (6'6) and I weigh about 95 kilos (200lbs?) now I want to do pull ups with either a bar or rings. so I was thinking of attaching a extra "spreader/spinnaker pole" or just a pole in general to the mast and hold the end up with a halyard. so I can hang on the pole or get my rings on ropes around it? could this work?


second question how much weight can a boom handle? can I hang a hammock or "lounge Chair" from it?


Apologies for the long story. Hope im in the right thread aswell. Thank you all for your time!

[Chotu]

If your rig can’t handle these weights, don’t buy the boat. Lol

It can handle 10 times that weight with ease.


Although I’m not sure what a wooden boat with a steel hull is.

[tkeithlu]

Chotu speaks with wisdom. Consider that the rig easily handles a knock-down, in which the boat rolls 60 degrees or so. Think you could do that by hanging your 200 pounds on a halyard?

[Sailor L]

Like I said, fairly new to this. Just double checking, don’t want to damage the boat or cause any damages. The extra pole is so that I don’t hang against the mast when training but have a bit of space to move around as I’m doing my training. And than holding the pole up with a halyard, cause I guess 95 kg on a long arm provides quite a bit of pressure on the holding mechanism..

The boat is an classic boat with a steel hull. So besides the hull everything is wood. Interior and masts etc..

[sailingharry]

We hear this all the time here. Old boat, lot of work, I know what we are getting into. And then asking about putting 200lb on the rig.

If you buy the boat, you will regret it. There are those who live to work on their classics (or love to pay someone to), but the vast majority are in over their heads. A steel boat is marginally better than a wood boat -- they take 100% attention 100% of the time.

I did a Bermuda race on a 74' steel ketch that the owner found in the islands with a hull you could see through in places. He paid to bring it back to seaworthy condition. He also bought a 100+ foot wood yacht on the bottom of the East River. He liked to spend his considerable funds on classic projects.

Just the wood masts -- varnish every year, strip and revarnish every 5-10. You won't need a real exercise program, working on the boat will wear you out.

Good luck. And good luck to your marriage.

[sailingharry]

Oh, and I should also mention. Since you are unaware of what the mast/boom/spinnaker pole/halyards can handle, you are also unaware of what the loads are like under sail. Be aware, the loads are in the thousands of pounds, and are only barely controlled by an experienced sailor. They can "get out of the box" very easily, and they can kill in an instant. Every step, every action, every maneuver requires you to be aware of the loads and how to control them. Just an anchor line, holding a boat stationary, can see loads of a couple thousand pounds on a boat that size.

[thomm225]

I bought an old fiberglass boat in 2011 and still have it.

I have been sailing it ever since.

I removed the 352 lb. diesel using the boom to pull it out with. I had the block and tackle attached to the boom.

After I got the engine out, I swing it over to the dock on the boom and sat it down there.

I've been up my passed 4-5 times on a webbing ladder, and I'm near 200 lbs. with clothes and boots on which is how I climbed it

[toddster8]

On my old boat, I was going to add ratlines to the shrouds with a solid cross bar up high for doing pull-ups, but upon moving aboard, I actually switched boats and the new boat is rigged differently. Currently using the solar arch, but there is interference with other gear or you have to hang off the back of the boat.

Haven't yet found a substitute for going ashore for cardio this winter. I've got kayak and SUP on board, but I'm pretty much a fair-weather paddler. I hate sweating in a wetsuit. Stormy days in an anchorage can get pretty restless.

Now I recall that one passing thought for justifying a bigger boat was, "Oh, and I can probably find room for a set of adjustable dumbbells." Well... I dunno. Still haven't adequately stowed all the stuff I brought on board last fall. No real room in the bilge...