What is this called?

Winters Dream · Nov 15, 2010

The part looks like it could be a type of cleat for a flag halyard. The line could pass thru the eye and complete a continuous loop for the halyard. I've never seen one like it.

It could also be a custom made part for your brand of boat. Contact the manufacturer.

Jackdaw · Nov 15, 2010

I think its called dangerous

Your shrouds and life-lines are two independent, mission critical systems that should not be tied together. Beyond it not being AYBC code, losing one could compromise the other. I'd hate to lose my rig in a blow, and then be trying to cut it way without lifelines. Just my 2 cents.

Tree · Nov 16, 2010

a different opinion

on smaller sailboats (less than 28 ft) a few years back this was not uncommon to use the shroud as a "stantion" / life-line support. I don't think it's all that dangerous. If you loose your mast and standing rigging and need your lifelines at the same instant.... well, you're having a pretty bad day to say the least..... anyway, not that comman an occurance if you ask me.

If you loose your mast and standing rigging, your lifelines are probably toast anyway. I would hope that you would have a jack line rigged and this is much more likely to keep you on your boat than a lifeline ever would.

..... The part you want is not something you can find easily. You will probably end up needing to make it your self .... which is not all that hard to do. Use a uv resistant plastic... (if you don't have a "plastics" type supplier in your area you can always just buy a plastic cutting board at your local super market.... it cuts with a skill saw, radial arm saw or table saw. Also it can easily be routered and fabricated into just about anything. So, with a little practice and learning how to work with it (caution as well since plastic is slick and can be a little more problematic than working with wood) you can make it into what ever shape or size you need.

What you want to make is a little different than your diagram. But it accomplishes the same thing. Think of two thin plates that screw togeter that have grooves cut in them that are 90 degrees apart. One groove in each plate. The lifeline lays in one groove, the shroud in the other.

Jackdaw · Nov 20, 2010

Tree said:
on smaller sailboats (less than 28 ft) a few years back this was not uncommon to use the shroud as a "stantion" / life-line support. I don't think it's all that dangerous. If you loose your mast and standing rigging and need your lifelines at the same instant.... well, you're having a pretty bad day to say the least..... anyway, not that comman an occurance if you ask me.

If you loose your mast and standing rigging, your lifelines are probably toast anyway. I would hope that you would have a jack line rigged and this is much more likely to keep you on your boat than a lifeline ever would.

You're right, to each his own. I've never seen that, but the fact that someone makes an actual PART for it means that someones been down that road. But for me that does not make it safe. On a deck stepped mast you're right, you can loose your lifelines in a dis-masting, but on the keel stepped 36.7, typically the mast would break somewhere north of the deck, and the life lines survive.

Freedom77 · Dec 23, 2010

rgranger said:
Hey All

I need help finding a piece of hardware and I'm having trouble because I don't know what it is called.

On a previous boat, I had a clamp (see attached JPG) that would fit on the shroud. The shroud passed through a groove in the clamp. The clamp also had a fair lead in it that one would pass the life lines through. This allowed one to use the shroud in place of a stanchion post. It worked very well and I'd like to repeat the set up on my boat.

Does anyone know where I can find this clamp (and what it is called)?

Thanks,

r

Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. It's called a jackline fairlead, available through C. Sherman Johnson. www.csjohnson.com. 860-873-8697. about $170.00 apiece. Fair Winds and Full Sails...

Tim C350 April IV · Dec 24, 2010

$170 a piece!!! Must be made of gold. Wait, I forgot, it's for a boat. If it was for an airplane it would be $300 and you'd have to inspect it every 6 months and replace it every year. If it was for a farm tractor, it would probably cost $2

Merry Christmas!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

Freedom77 · Dec 25, 2010

Tim C350 April IV said:
$170 a piece!!! Must be made of gold. Wait, I forgot, it's for a boat. If it was for an airplane it would be $300 and you'd have to inspect it every 6 months and replace it every year. If it was for a farm tractor, it would probably cost $2

Merry Christmas!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

YOU ARE RIGHT MY FRIEND!! I didn't say I bought one or intend to buy one for pete's sake. Rgranger, I'll bet that if you knew the toll on this little trinket you would have taken them with you. A sailboat is a hole in the water into which you pour endless amounts of money. One might find the same gadget at McMaster Carr or some similar place. LIke a woman the rigging costs more than the hull.

Fair Winds and Full Sails...

Rick Sylvester · Dec 26, 2010

It's a horrible idea.

I see in the posts about how if the mast comes down it could affect the integrity of the lifelines.

Maybe, but I'd be far more concerned with the opposite happening.

Much more often I've seen lifelines/stanchions get snagged and bent/broken. In that case the rig could very well be compromised.

Jackdaw's right. Just because someone has built it or even done it doesn't make it a good idea.

Ron20324 · Dec 27, 2010

Freedom77 said:
It's called a jackline fairlead, available through C. Sherman Johnson. www.csjohnson.com. 860-873-8697. about $170.00 apiece.

Part number 49-100, made of billet 316 SS. Picture on p17 of the December All At Sea magazine. The intended use is to raise the jackline off the deck to eliminate tripping or sliding on the jackline by putting the fairlead up on the shroud some number of feet..

Steve Dion · Dec 27, 2010

The part was designed for a "jackline" fairlead. I doubt that it was ever intended to put a life line through the device.

SNOWCROW · Jan 3, 2011

On the nose!

Tim C350 April IV said:
$170 a piece!!! Must be made of gold. Wait, I forgot, it's for a boat. If it was for an airplane it would be $300 and you'd have to inspect it every 6 months and replace it every year. If it was for a farm tractor, it would probably cost $2

Merry Christmas!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

You hit that reply right on the nose! Having been around all three...that's the exact scenario!

What is this called?

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