[pdqaltair]

The greatest concern I hear, over and over, is that with the jackline on the side deck there is nothing to keep the sailor from going over the lifeline. It does seem like it is right there. But...

* When moving you are always holding on to the handrails, so passing the cabin is actually very low risk.

* Has anyone actually fallen to windward? It feels like a dumb question, but I just read about 108 cases studies from US Sailing, and none of them were to windward. I read of people drowning in the quarter wave... on the leeward side. Lots of stories of people being washed off to leeward either by a wave or an unruly sail. But none to windward.

Second question. Has anyone ever heard of a broken jackline? I can find links to tether failures (lack of shock absorption, in the days before drop testing was required, resulted in some strong but dangerous designs). But can't find a single link referencing a jackline failure. I also believe there has never been a tether failure on a jackline, only when clipped to a hard point (the jackline provides shock absorption).

Just checking facts.

Me, I've only fallen off at the dock.

 

[seaner97]

You can go over the leeward side when you started on the windward side, particularly in a knockdown gust. Never heard of anyone sober that fell off the windward side of the boat, however.

 

[Squidd]

Hard to fall off "up hill"...

I did however fall off my boat on the hard....stupid ladder..

 

[CLucas]

Hard to fall off "up hill"...

I did however fall off my boat on the hard....stupid ladder..

Guessing you weren't clipped in...

 

[miatapaul]

Well on a catamaran I could see falling off to windward, but not really on a mono hull. but a catamarans limited heel would make both sides basically the same. I have heard of people falling on the windward side, but sliding across the cabin top to the leeward side and going over under the life lines.

 

[appick]

Hard to fall off "up hill"...

I did however fall off my boat on the hard....stupid ladder..

That's no laughing matter there. It seems every year about this time I'll hear a news article about a guy falling off a boat or ladder in the boat yard. I fell on our boat, lucky for me the marina packs the boats in so tight I fell onto my neighbors boat. I'll just say that I've never appreciated C&C's 1-1/2" aluminum toe rail, especially when I'm landing on it with my right butt cheek. Its been 4 years and I still have a lump on that cheek. I'm lucky though had the boat not been there I very likely would've broken my neck. The way I was falling I was rotating and would've hit the ground with my head...

BE CAREFUL out there this spring! Tie off the ladder to the boat, make sure it is properly seated on the ground. If you're on pavement make sure the feet of the ladder are good, the rubber wears down.

 

[jsaronson]

I've come close when we have done an unannounced tack and windward became leeward without warning. Other than that, no.

 

[Maine Sail]

My practice when off shore and needing to be clipped in is to move forward on windward and clip in on windward. This way if I fall...

1- I have more to grab on the way down

2- My tether stops me before I am fully over the lee lifelines...

3- I am not stepping over loaded sheets or dodging the boom etc...

I am sure someone will school me as to why this won't work but it has seemed common sense to me since the early 80's and has always worked well. I have sailed off-shore with many sailors who clip into lee and many like me who clip into windward....

 

[pdqaltair]

That's no laughing matter there. It seems every year about this time I'll hear a news article about a guy falling off a boat or ladder in the boat yard. I fell on our boat, lucky for me the marina packs the boats in so tight I fell onto my neighbors boat. I'll just say that I've never appreciated C&C's 1-1/2" aluminum toe rail, especially when I'm landing on it with my right butt cheek. Its been 4 years and I still have a lump on that cheek. I'm lucky though had the boat not been there I very likely would've broken my neck. The way I was falling I was rotating and would've hit the ground with my head...

BE CAREFUL out there this spring! Tie off the ladder to the boat, make sure it is properly seated on the ground. If you're on pavement make sure the feet of the ladder are good, the rubber wears down.

GOOD POINT! Easy way to take a career-ending fall.

The first task when climbing the ladder should be to lash it to the toe rail. I try hard to remember. Most of us put the ladder sideways, and it isn't very stable.

I even used an extension ladder up the mast (more stable and easier than bosons chair if only going to the spreaders, and obviously I can only do this when in the water), but I ALWAYS pad the top rung and tie it around the mast before raising it. Then it is quite stable, particularly on cats.

 

[pdqaltair]

My practice when off shore and needing to be clipped in is to move forward on windward and clip in on windward. This way if I fall...

1- I have more to grab on the way down

2- My tether stops me before I am fully over the lee lifelines...

3- I am not stepping over loaded sheets or dodging the boom etc...

I am sure someone will school me as to why this won't work but it has seemed common sense to me since the early 80's and has always worked well. I have sailed off-shore with many sailors who clip into lee and many like me who clip into windward....

I only clip in to leeward if what I need to work on is near the lee rail. On a cat, the deck is so wide, a reasonable length tether will not reach all the way to leeward. Since cats don't heel much, there isn't too much leaning involved, though you can get pretty wet. in these cases, I will clip in with the 3' tether leg, and my jacklines are waist high on the cabin roof. No worries.

But I generally don't bother with the short tether leg on the windward side since falling seems really unlikely, even in rough conditions.

On cats the greatest MOB risks are, in order:
* A sudden stop if you stuff a wave. If working at the front cross beam, clip in 6 feet behind you (my jacklines stop 6' short of the bow).
* Unruly head sail... though less risk than monohull. Boom can hit you on the head, but you'll land on the deck.
* Quick helm movement, either way. Only a problem if you are not holding on at all.

 

[capt jgwinks]

Hard to fall off "up hill"...

I did however fall off my boat on the hard....stupid ladder..

The ladder scares me a hell of a lot more than the water.

 

[doug1957]

After last years cruising in Maine, we are getting jack lines and tethers for cruising. Sometimes the conditions went from 5 kts to 20+ kts, which was not predicted, btw, and so reefing is needed and if you need to go on deck to reef, there is no windward.

 

[Val v]

We catapulted a crew member during a strong wind Wednesday night race. She was on leeward but when the boat went around the mark the heel direction changed violently and she went flying over the deck and into the water. So technically she was on windward side

 

[smackdaddy]

One thing I've learned...it's precisely the thing you least expect. That's the sea.

 

[pdqaltair]

Val. I bet she was to leeward when she lost her balance.

Smack. Not so many surprises, after all these years. Mostly because I half expect everything bad!

Doug. When you are reefing you are well inboard of the jackline anyway, and might better be tethered to a work point anchor. Or perhaps this is my multihull heritage showing--the boom is right far from the edge. I will also like to reef with the boom ~ 2 feet to one side. often it is easier to maintain a course just a little to one side of the wind, and that keeps the boom from sweeping me of the deck.

Getting knocked off during a course change does seem like the only likely windward (just became leeward) case. Of course, cruisers are seldom on the bow during a tack.