Is it sensible to climb a mast on a Capri 22?

[SimonHGR]

Hi all,

I have climbed (or more honestly, been winched up the mast of an Elan 380, and I'm not bothered about the height nor the swaying in the breeze that accompanies that expedition, indeed, it was rather fun. However, I was in a discussion with a friend recently about an issue on the top of the mast of a Capri 22. I'm considering volunteering for the climb, but I'm not sure if it's a sensible course of action from a safety perspective. On one hand, if I were at sea and something went horribly wrong up there, I might have no choice but to go fix it. On the other hand, I figure the keel of this is (I believe) 700 lbs, at a lever arm of 4 feet (I think it's the fin keel). At the other end of the mast I would be about 180~190lb (depending on clothes, tools, etc.!) at a lever arm of most of 32 feet (I think it's the standard rig). Well, that makes my moment about double that of the keel, which sounds like a sure-fire recipe for a capsize and me landing with a big splash (or more likely, crashing onto the dockside). Obviously that calculation is simplistic and ignores the hull shape, which surely adds some stability beyond just the weight of the keel.

I can imagine perhaps bracing the boat with lines run from, say, halfway up the mast to wide points on either side of the slip, but this begins to sound like something that's just too much effort and risk. I believe the mast can, after all, be dropped (e.g. for trailering), and that would seem like a better option.

But if it's not safe to do this, what would one do if at sea with a main halyard jammed halfway up, and in a gale?

Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Cheers,
Simon

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

If you’re in a 22 ft boat in a gale with a jammed sail, my first thought would be ‘where is my knife’. My next thought would be ‘who is the dumbest person on the crew‘.

 

[SimonHGR]

If you’re in a 22 ft boat in a gale [...] ‘who is the dumbest person on the crew‘.

Fair Probably the skipper for getting myself (er, them) there in the first place!

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Fair Probably the skipper for getting myself (er, them) there in the first place!

Good point!

 

[dlochner]

Your analysis is pretty close. The lever arm on the keel is about half your estimate because the keel weight is distributed along the depth of the keel and most of the weight is high on the keel due to the shape.

As for the hypothetical skipper of a 22 foot boat in a gale, it was the weatherman's fault. He said the wind would only go to 20-25 knots, it went to 50. Nothing like sailing downwind in 12+ foot seas in 50 knots and jibing to get into the harbor.

 

[rgranger]

Drop the mast
Fix the problem
Put the mast back up

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

As a former now retired Catalina/Capri dealer, drop the mast. Once an owner of a Capri 22 asked Frank Butler the same question and Frank’s response was hell no as you could die. Frank was the founder of Catalina Yachts who purchased Capri.

 

[higgs]

If your not sure, don't so it.

 

[jssailem]

Sensible to climb a mast on a 22 ft boat? NO.
Not when the mast can be dropped. The rig was my designed to support a 180lb person up the mast. Has it ever been done? Possibly. Is the sensible? Not likely.

 

[SimonHGR]

Well, all that sounds like a pretty convincing "no"

Thanks all for the input; yes, I wasn't at all sure (indeed the math seemed to indicate no anyway), but that's exactly why I asked those with more experience than myself. I greatly appreciate all of this, especially the story from Frank Butler, that's about as good an authority as one could ask for

Of course, that leaves the follow up--if my main halyard were to jam, in the mast, or perhaps on the top roller, with the sail up, what happens next? The notion of "get my knife" doesn't seem like it helps much, since cutting the bottom of the halyard wouldn't change anything. What would I cut? As a newbie (well, one season, which is definitely newbie status!) I'm struggling to resolve that one. Perhaps halyards never jam in the mast, nor at the top roller?

 

[Calif. Ted]

Of course, that leaves the follow up--if my main halyard were to jam, in the mast, or perhaps on the top roller, with the sail up, what happens next?

I've never had a halyard jam with the sail up, usually gravity is in your favor, you don't want to cut anything. It's not usually gonna be an emergency to get the sail down anyway. All you really need do is point into the wind and let it luff, at some point you will be pulling down on the luff of the sail to get the halyard down..

 

[Don S/V ILLusion]

Release the traveler, release the main sheet and let it flog, head into the wind and sea under power, etc…
Worst case - cut the sail or the rigging.

While your thinking is good anticipation of what-to-do scenarios, the obvious still applies - proper maintenance and routine inspection of critical components is essential regardless of whether It’s inconvenient to get at it. Doing so lessens the chance of something going wrong. Focus on prevention.

 

[jssailem]

I've never had a halyard jam with the sail up, usually gravity is in your favor,

While your thinking is good anticipation of what-to-do scenarios, the obvious still applies - proper maintenance and routine inspection of critical components is essential regardless of whether It’s inconvenient to get at it.

It is great that you are thinking about all of these potentials. You may want to consider creating solutions to your concerns and posting them.

Perhaps I sail with a four-leaf clover in my pocket. I have never had a halyard jamb at the top of my mast.

Inspection and maintenance may have helped with this luck.

What steps would I take if such were to occur? Conjecture here. Certainly, I would head into the wind. A luffing sail means I am depowered. Less likely to hit anything. If grabbing the luff and hauling it down did not fix the problem, then releasing the outhaul from the clew and wrapping the sail about the mast would at the least save the sail till I could get back to shore. No cutting is necessary.

 

[rgranger]

I have had my halyard jam with the sail up on a Coronado 23. I powered into a protective cove and dropped the mast with the sail bent … had to remove the boom from the mast first.

 

[higgs]

I have had my halyard jam with the sail up on a Coronado 23. I powered into a protective cove and dropped the mast with the sail bent … had to remove the boom from the mast first.

Did you find out why the halyard jammed?

 

[rgranger]

Did you find out why the halyard jammed?

Worn sheave and the plastic divider was UV damaged … replaced the sheave with one I got here at SBO and fab’ed a divider out of an aluminum sheet I had ( an old no parking sign)

 

[SimonHGR]

Interesting, it's clear that the comments about maintenance and inspection are well founded. For my part, I don't own, I rent, and that largely takes maintenance out of my control. But a good inspection is not out of my control and is a skill I really need to build.

On which topic, I've had a mast collapse on me already in my short time in this adventure. And that was something that a better (and better educated) inspection would have avoided. The main bulkhead was sodden and completely rotten, consequently the chainplate just tore up through the deck and the mast went down. That was in about 7 kts of wind. There was a crack in the deck around that chainplate, and it seems likely water had been seeping through for a long time. In other words, I wasn't the only person to fail to inspect that boat properly, indeed, everyone who sailed her for perhaps a year or more, had failed too.

If you live long enough, you learn.

 

[shemandr]

...If you live long enough, you learn.

But you have to keep living... to continue to learn.