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My guess is that you missed seeing his life insurance policy which pays triple if he is lost at sea. Those are not Jacklines; they are a placebo for his family. If he went over the side the only good news is that he would probably take his bow pulpit with him.
Ideally the jacklines are terminated at strong points that through bolted to the deck and have backing plates and so on. Mine go to the padeye for my storm jib and back to my stern cleats. Personally I prefer high tech low stretch line with sacrificial cover (or webbing). I stretch mine very tight. I attach to the windward jackline and I can tell you from experience, I can't reach the lee rail with my torso.
I'm not sure what that guy is doing. You'll have to ask him.
Yeah, the stanchion base attachment is "innovative." Let's ignore that oversight for the moment.
I like dedicated attachment points, not cleats, because I singlehand most of the time and like to leave them rigged. Taking them off would feel like "leaving the seabelts at home, just for today."
But a serious question. Does anyone EVER fall off to windward? Having the line near the rail makes some folks nervous, which I understand, but I have never heard of a sailor going over the high side. They generally do one of the following:
* Slide to leeward off the bow while fighting with the jib on deck.
* Get swept off by a sheet or sail during a tack (got caught on the wrong side).
* Slide across the cockpit.
* Fall from the mast base area while fighting with reefing gear.
* Get nailed by the boom.
* Forward on cat when a wave is stuffed at high speed.
Always to leeward.
I'd be seriously interested in knowing. I've always seen the jack lines run on either side and had been pondering how to run them down the middle but there are too many things going on in the middle for that to make sense. Maybe I can move on from this issue and go ponder something else....
On a decent boat the transom is thru bolted with ss backing plates...probably plenty strong on that boat. I leave my jack line not too tight to avoid rubbing the gel coat too much when moving with the tether...what is 12" of slack if your beam is 15' before you get wet?
I've never felt the need for jack lines or tethers. I have put a line around my waist when going out on a long bow sprit in a gale or storm, but it was tailed by my crew and plenty long enough for me to come up behind the boat and be hauled aboard over the stern.
I agree that a stanchion is not stong enough for an attachment point. It is easy to rig webbing from bow cleat to stern cleat. The owner probably feels that the stanchion is stronger than the forces on his body if he falls.
About them being near the rail. Yes, I know that people want to put the jack line down the center of the boat. In many cases this is just not practical. I have mine on the side deck also. They are very heavy duty webbing. When jacked-in, I go on the windward side. Going on the leeward side is really dangerous. On the windward side I have a chance of getting held up enough to keep myself on the boat.
Jack lines are not a 100% solution. They buy you an extra chance. I use them at night, during heavy weather and when solo. They add an extra layer of protection. The best protection is: avoiding problems, being aware, holding on, being prepared, being lucky - maybe I should have put that one (luck) first. I've often thought that the main use of jack lines when I am solo, is to keep my body attached to the boat so that my wife can bury me. When sailing with crew it can give them a chance to get me back abroad - or vice versa. Yes, I have a quick release so that I can try not to drown myself if I go over the side, but honestly, if the conditions are that bad, I don't want to be disconected from the boat. Where I usually sail the water temp is in the low 50's.
I once read an interview with a delivery captain who was singlehanding a boat from California to Hawaii.
At one point she was on the windward side tending to something when a freak wave caught the boat at an awkward moment (for her) and she went over the side. She was not able to reach the toerail, and not strong enough to pull herself up the tether.
(If I were being dragged along in the water I'm not sure I would have been strong enough either.)
She told the interviewer that after struggling for a while she had started to resign herself to the possibility that the boat might show up in Hawaii with its dead skipper hanging alongside.
The problem was resolved when another freak wave rolled the boat to windward and she was able to catch the stanchion/toerail/whatever and haul herself up on deck.
When I rig jacklines I run one from an eye on the port side of the cockpit around the starboard side of the mast to the port side of the bow, and another line the same way on the opposite side(s). This requires slow careful maneuvering (not a bad thing) and sometimes switching tether connections (attach the new before detaching the old).
When I'm singlehanded and using jacklines I'm usually on my hand and knees anyway, so slow going is not a problem.
In an emergency requiring speed I have been known to go to wherever quickly and then attach my harness, but I have to really need speed to do that.
I forgot to attach once, and found myself on the bow of a trimaran that was taking waves over itself. I never had consciously realized just how narrow a trimaran bow could be.
Never again.
I once read an interview with a delivery captain who was singlehanding a boat from California to Hawaii.
At one point she was on the windward side tending to something when a freak wave caught the boat at an awkward moment (for her) and she went over the side. She was not able to reach the toerail, and not strong enough to pull herself up the tether.
(If I were being dragged along in the water I'm not sure I would have been strong enough either.)
She told the interviewer that after struggling for a while she had started to resign herself to the possibility that the boat might show up in Hawaii with its dead skipper hanging alongside.
The problem was resolved when another freak wave rolled the boat to windward and she was able to catch the stanchion/toerail/whatever and haul herself up on deck.
When I rig jacklines I run one from an eye on the port side of the cockpit around the starboard side of the mast to the port side of the bow, and another line the same way on the opposite side(s). This requires slow careful maneuvering (not a bad thing) and sometimes switching tether connections (attach the new before detaching the old).
When I'm singlehanded and using jacklines I'm usually on my hand and knees anyway, so slow going is not a problem.
In an emergency requiring speed I have been known to go to wherever quickly and then attach my harness, but I have to really need speed to do that.
I forgot to attach once, and found myself on the bow of a trimaran that was taking waves over itself. I never had consciously realized just how narrow a trimaran bow could be.
Never again.
Of course, without the jackline she would simply have gone missing and boat might have appeared on a beach somewhere a year later. A PFD wouldn't help.
For what it is worth, jackline in the sense of a safety line is one word. Jack lines are utility lines used for pulling or other assorted uses.
Websters Dictionary,doesn’t even list the safety line application:
jack line, noun.
1: a small rope or line
---
As for the usefulness of jacklines, there are several things to consider:
1. Has anyone ever been saved by them? Obviously, the answer is yes. Many stories. Though I have never been saved from a surprise fall (I don't think--it would actually be hard to know for certain), I have been "caught" by a tether hundreds of times while leaning against it intentionally, working on something near a rail or near the mast in rough conditions. It works like a strong 3rd hand. Resently I did a bunch of testing of drogues in gale conditions while singlehanding for a series of articles. I was working in and through open gates above the sugar scoop and the tether caught me repeatedly. Very handy. I'm a 30-year rock climber, so working with sort of rigging is natural and comfortable.
2. Placebo. Only if you use them in a way such that the tether is too long or if they are poorly rigged. Same for saving the body. I find this sort of thinking frightening and self defeating. If they don't feel safe, I suggest training and practice are needed. If safety gear does not work properly... fix it so that it does rather than throwing your hands in the air.
My preference is for jack lines down side decks between dedicated fittings bow and stern. In the absence of dedicated fittings I use cleats. Always go up the windward side (unless you can't *sigh*). Every attempt at a centerline jack line that I have seen has required more time to manage and more clipping and unclipping.
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