Anyone have any experience in ascending your mast solo? I saw a guy do it with a multipart tackle attached to a bosun's chair and a mountaineering type "ascender" as a safety stop on the free end. I'm curious as to others' experience, what ratio of tackle, etc. And, most critically, how much do you weigh? I'm pretty big and even with a 4:1 tackle, the 50+ lbs pull could get pretty tiring all the way to the top. I experimented a little today (at low "altitude") with a 3:1 tackle and it took too much effort.
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Roger Noble
I found a great product...
... the ATN Top-climber, check it out at http://www.atninc.com/topclimber.html Since I got it, I go up the mast at will. No more waiting for someone to help, and no one is straining to winch me up the mast. It's by far the most useful tool I've added this year. My one caveat is that they don't use high end ascenders like the Gibbs that come apart to grab a line already made fast. I put 2 of those on for ease of use. Roger Noble C-30 #3725 "Amazing Grace" Lake Travis, Austin, Texas rogern@austin.rr.com
... the ATN Top-climber, check it out at http://www.atninc.com/topclimber.html Since I got it, I go up the mast at will. No more waiting for someone to help, and no one is straining to winch me up the mast. It's by far the most useful tool I've added this year. My one caveat is that they don't use high end ascenders like the Gibbs that come apart to grab a line already made fast. I put 2 of those on for ease of use. Roger Noble C-30 #3725 "Amazing Grace" Lake Travis, Austin, Texas rogern@austin.rr.com
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LaDonna Bubak - Planet Catalina
Roger re: ATN
Thanks for your review! I *just* (like 5 minutes ago) saw an ad for this product in Blue Water Sailing and was wondering about it. Sounds pretty groovy! LaDonna
Thanks for your review! I *just* (like 5 minutes ago) saw an ad for this product in Blue Water Sailing and was wondering about it. Sounds pretty groovy! LaDonna
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Scott Narum
Mast Mate
I had the same desire to go to the top of my mast solo. I ended up buying a Mast-Mate nylon ladder (Mastmate.com??). It runs up your sail groove. I will say that it takes some pretty good effort and I didn't feel super-secure, but I'm not a fan of heights anyway. I'll have to check out the thing Roger is talking about.
I had the same desire to go to the top of my mast solo. I ended up buying a Mast-Mate nylon ladder (Mastmate.com??). It runs up your sail groove. I will say that it takes some pretty good effort and I didn't feel super-secure, but I'm not a fan of heights anyway. I'll have to check out the thing Roger is talking about.
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Bob Sawyer
Hi, I recently had my jib halyard jam at the top of the mast and investigated various solo mast climbing devices. They're all in the $250-300 range. You may want to look at www.prime-climb.com as well. They have a rigid system that seems pretty good. I went the cheep way and had the yard clear it for $50, but it wasn't a long term solution. Hope this helps. Bob
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Jackie
block-and-tackle option
My boyfriend has rigged up a block-and-tackle approach to this as there is no way I can winch him up to the top of the mast. We basically have 200 feet of rope with a two double blocks at either end. We send one block up the mast on the main or jib halyard (making sure to hold on to the other block). Then he can haul himself up. This gear also doubles as a backup boom vang should ours ever break, or a man-overboard hoist.
My boyfriend has rigged up a block-and-tackle approach to this as there is no way I can winch him up to the top of the mast. We basically have 200 feet of rope with a two double blocks at either end. We send one block up the mast on the main or jib halyard (making sure to hold on to the other block). Then he can haul himself up. This gear also doubles as a backup boom vang should ours ever break, or a man-overboard hoist.
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Robert Fischer
Ocean Navigator magazine
This months issue of Ocean Navigator has an excellent article on gear for climbing the mast.
This months issue of Ocean Navigator has an excellent article on gear for climbing the mast.
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Bob Camarena
Thanks Roger
Thanks for the reference. It's funny since I'd bought one high tech ascender (similar to the Gibbs) for my safety stop. After my frustrating experiment I was thinking of going back to REI, buying another one and rigging up something similar to the Top Climber using my existing bosun's chair and the two ascenders. I was inventing something that had already been invented! At this point $285 is a little steep for the amount of use I'd give it so I just may try the do-it-yourself version. For my immediate needs I just decided to haul my son-in-law up to do the work (isn't that what they're for?). Bob
Thanks for the reference. It's funny since I'd bought one high tech ascender (similar to the Gibbs) for my safety stop. After my frustrating experiment I was thinking of going back to REI, buying another one and rigging up something similar to the Top Climber using my existing bosun's chair and the two ascenders. I was inventing something that had already been invented! At this point $285 is a little steep for the amount of use I'd give it so I just may try the do-it-yourself version. For my immediate needs I just decided to haul my son-in-law up to do the work (isn't that what they're for?). Bob
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Ron Doescher
Mast climbing
Check out the back issues of Practical Sailor. They did an evaluation of various products a year or two ago. Also offered many good safety tips on what to do/not to do.
Check out the back issues of Practical Sailor. They did an evaluation of various products a year or two ago. Also offered many good safety tips on what to do/not to do.
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Mike C.
Ascenders are the key
For those of us around the 200' mark a four part tackle works ok. However, without a pair of ascenders from REI I couldn't hang on to the rope long enough to get to the top. I put a short line between the ring on the chair and the right asecender to belay the free end of the rope, worked slick. Total cost is still close to $200 even with cheap braid.
For those of us around the 200' mark a four part tackle works ok. However, without a pair of ascenders from REI I couldn't hang on to the rope long enough to get to the top. I put a short line between the ring on the chair and the right asecender to belay the free end of the rope, worked slick. Total cost is still close to $200 even with cheap braid.
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