I was wondering how other people reached the top of their masts, if at all?
It was forced on me as I had a minor gear failure during the round-the-island race last week. The snapshackle holding the head of the jib to the furling swivel snapped and the jib dropped in the water, leaving the halyard at the top of the mast. Yesterday I went up the mast for the first time using my Topclimber setup. It's basically a bosun's chair plus separate footrope, each connected to a kind of jamming cleat. You sit in one (and strap yourself in) and stand in the other. The jammers slide up but not down a line previously hoisted on any suitable halyard. In my case, I had to use the peak halyard, and sitting as high as I could go I then had to use my telescopic boathook to reach the jib halyard and pull it down. After that, I was able to use the jib halyard to go higher up the mast to start my varnishing campaign.
The Topclimber wasn't cheap but it does seem to do the job. I made up a special line for it (something like 10mm braid-on-braid low-stretch polyester, from memory) with my first ever eye-splice in braid at one end for attachment to halyard. That gets hoisted and tensioned at the bottom, and then going up it is a single-handed job with no external assistance needed. The last time I did this my son hauled me up and although a strong lad, he found it difficult. An option that is both easy and not needing strength at the base of the mast is very useful. Coming down is fairly easy as well. You soon get into the rhythm of moving one jammer, taking the weight on that one and moving the other, both up and down, maybe 6" at a time on each. It's also fairly comfortable to sit in while working, or even just admiring the view! The device gets mixed reviews on the Internet (and is usually criticised by people with climbing experience who would rather tell you about some long list of specialised climbing equipment they use instead!) but it came out top in a Yachting Monthly mast-climbing test a year or two back. Anyway, it gets my vote because it does the job.
Posted on 29 Jun 2010 - 8:08pm
Brian, nice to hear a review of the Topclimber system. Have never tried one as I am happy with my arrangement for ascending the mast. There are many ways to solve this problem and everyone has a different opinion as to which is best but I use a three-part tackle, using ball-bearing blocks, on my boson’s chair which allows me to pull myself to the masthead. The upper double-block is hoisted on my topping-lift (could be any of the halyards that you trust with your life!) The lower block is a ratchet-block so with the ratchet engaged it takes minimal effort to hold position between pulls. I try to have another person on deck purely to make fast the bitter end once I am at the top and also to ensure the free end does not snag on anything below. I wear a separate fall-harness which is tied with a Prussic knot to a halyard. I slide the Prussic knot up and down the halyard as I go.