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Has anybody heard of this?

3K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  ffiill 
#1 ·
My neighbour in my marina just told me about a unique system for going up the mast - webbing mast steps.

He told me he saw this on a sailboat while cruising. The couple had a roll of webbing mast steps with something like a heavy duty sail slide on one end. They inserted the "sailslide" in the sail track on the mast and hauled the webbing up the mast with a halyard. Then the man could climb up the mast without needing to be winched. His wife simply controlled a safety line for him.

What interested me about this system was the easy stowability of the mast steps, the easy installation, the aparent ease of use and especially that you don't need anybody to haul you up. I googled but haven't found anything resembling this.

Has anybody heard of these mast steps?

Manny
 
#3 ·
A friend of mine had one that the PO made for his boat. It's real real hard to climb because it's totally vertical, not like a ladder. It was webbing like what is used for big straps on truck cargo, had loops for the feet, and sail slides for the track, was hauled up with the halyard.
 
#6 ·
Of course, the system doesn't work very well when the mainsail is up... so if you've got a problem with the mainsail, it isn't that useful.
 
#10 ·
I have them and they work. You need to remove the main slugs first to make room for the ladder. It's nice to go up unaided. Double steps at the top makes it easy to work on the mast head. I'll be getting rid of mine as the new boat came with an ATN Top Climber (haven't actually used it yet however).

Gene
 
#11 ·
I have Mast Mate and used it successfully to go up my mast. I could *never* have used a bosuns chair. I am not terrified of heights but I am uncomfortable and definitely didn't like the idea of hanging at the end of a rope. I tried various top-climbers etc and didn't like them either. Mast mate made all the difference, plus I don't need anyone else to pull me up.

One thing that helped me is to add some sort of a webbing harness around your ches that you can clip around the mast - that way you can have both hands free to do work up there.
 
#12 ·
I have one and love it. Only problem is that if you have to stand in the stirrups for a while to complete a job, the feet start getting sore because the soft stirrups want to roll your foot.

 
#18 ·
So would a Tides Strong mast track IIRC.
 
#17 ·
I've got a Mastmate too, and love it. The top 2 stairs on mine have metal reinforcements so they are easier to stand on while working at the top of the mast. I use the optional work/safety belt that helps prevent falling backwards too.

Overall I love it and find it pretty easy to get to the top. As has been mentioned, of course, you have to take the main mostly out to feed the sliders into the channel, so no working on the main. One other minor difficulty I've found: tricky raising it when a good breeze is hitting it from the stern because the steps can wedge into the spreader joints
 
#20 ·
Question for those of you that have them, How old are they?

Sounds like there may be some variations thru the years?!?!?! ie some now have mast slugs, some metal or equal at the top step so the foot does not roll. I would imagine that there may have been some advancements to the design? or knock offs?

I have thought about one of these for myself.

marty
 
#22 ·
Same here--Mastmate (3 yrs old) came without slugs. Which makes sense since different masts have different channels. So you get the appropriate slugs and attach.
 
#23 ·
Gene, I checked out the ATN Top Climber site and its interesting too. Does seem to me that it would require more effort to go up the mast and more time assembling the whole rig. I also tried to find Catain Al's but they seem to have dissappeared, other than for a few really negative reviews...

What I like about both ideas is that you can hoist yourself high enough above the masthead to work comfortably. In my bosuns chair, I tend to find myself straining with my arms in the air to get at whatever wiring, halyard, etc that I need to work on.

Its true that the mast mate wouldn't work for all sail tracks, but it would work on Yofy. I always use a safety line anyhow and would have some kind of harness/tool belt for work, so I don't see any safety issues.

Brak, I appreciate your feedback especially since you've tried other systems. And erps, that picture says it all! PCP I think the slides definetly would make climbing easier. That seems to be a modification they made in later years. Also the metal reinforcements for the top steps. Arf145, that is a good point about the wind and my slip generally has an aft breeze. But on anchor it wouldn't be an issue.

What I'm mostly thinking about is needing go up the mast when we are on our own. Robyn is a strong woman, but she can't hoist me in my bosun's chair. And she has serious vertigo, so I can't convince her to go up. I think having a maste mate would be a great solution. When I'm working on other people's boats I can still use my bosun's chair.
Manny
 
#24 ·
One thing I recommend is adding a couple of mast steps near the top of the mast, so that you can put your feet in them and support most of your weight when working at the mast head. This also allows you to get high enough to work on the mast top mounted gear easily
 
#25 ·
No system can in my opinion safely take you above mast height as you run out of line wherever it goes over the mast head pulley.
I can stand up on my foot stirups but once I do there is the possibility of falling backwards and getting entangled.
Also Top climber which uses ascenders like my ascenders has a problem when you get close to the top of the rope because setting therope taut at an angle to the mast means you hang below the rope and reach a point where you find youself wedged between the rope and the mast.
Next time I use my Petzl ascenders intend to have rope loosly fastened next to mast.
You can use ascenders of one sort or another-check out climbing stores;safety equipment stores and those selling to tree surgeons and the like.They also do very competitive pricing on safety harnesses and here in UK are local sales tax free if relating to Health and Safety.
 
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