Question about the necessity of lifelines

[BobJ]

...how strictly are the NCORC rules applied to the SHTP race?

Not at all - SHTP has its own rules. I see nothing in the SHTP lifeline requirements that precludes attaching the stanchions to the hull:

4.07 The deck including head stay must be surrounded by a suitably strong enclosure - typically consisting of lifelines and pulpits - meeting the following requirements:

4.07.1 Lifelines must be uncoated stainless steel wire or Dyneema/Spectra line with spliced terminations. A knotted multipart lashing segment not to exceed 6” tying
lifelines to pulpits is allowed.
4.07.2 Maximum spacing between the bases of lifeline supports (e.g. stanchions) is 87”.
4.07.3 Boats 30’ and under must have at least one lifeline with 18” minimum height above deck, a maximum vertical gap of 18” (a taller enclosure requires second lifeline)
and a minimum diameter of 1/8”.
4.07.4 Boats over 30’ must have at least two lifelines with 24” minimum height above deck, maximum vertical gap of 15” and a minimum diameter of 5/32” for boats to 43’,
and 3/16” for boats over 43’.
4.07.5 Trimarans are exempted from the lifeline requirement where there is a trampoline outboard of the main hull, except that a lifeline must run from the top of a bow pulpit to
the forward crossbeam at the outboard edge of the bow net or foredeck. Catamarans with trampoline nets between the hulls are exempted from the lifeline requirement. All
catamarans are exempted from the need for pulpits and lifelines across the bow.
4.07.6 Bulwarks, solid rails, or any similar solid enclosure meet the lifeline requirement if of similar height.

[pbryant]

Thanks! That's good news. I'll get out my drill...

[BobJ]

That sounds serious. You might want to read them for yourself and make sure I didn't miss a little cavee-yacht or something:

http://sfbaysss.org/resource/shtp201...nal_111315.pdf

[sleddog]

Though no longer a SHTP inspector and this observation is my own, a traditional lifeline support has been the wire or rope lifeline securely lashed or cable clamped to the (upper) shrouds, assuming the chainplates were near the rail.

"e.g." in SHTP 4.07.2 is from the Latin expression exempli gratia, and means "for the sake of an example." It does not mean, IMHO, that it is mandatory to use this method.

I don't know your spacing, but such an approach might eliminate the need for several stanchions.

"Yes, but what if the mast goes?"
If the mast goes, the lifelines, whether supported by stanchions or not, are probably going too, and there are bigger fish to fry.

[pbryant]

Though no longer a SHTP inspector and this observation is my own, a traditional lifeline support has been the wire or rope lifeline securely lashed or cable clamped to the (upper) shrouds, assuming the chainplates were near the rail.

"e.g." in SHTP 4.07.2 is from the Latin expression exempli gratia, and means "for the sake of an example." It does not mean, IMHO, that it is mandatory to use this method.

I don't know your spacing, but such an approach might eliminate the need for several stanchions.

"Yes, but what if the mast goes?"
If the mast goes, the lifelines, whether supported by stanchions or not, are probably going too, and there are bigger fish to fry.

Excellent suggestion! That will save me from installing two stanchions. So far as the rig failing: you're right. And one thing I was taught was to never, ever clip in a tether to any of the standing rigging or the lifelines. If the standing rigging goes overboard, so will you. And the lifelines, being at the edge of the deck, will only make recovering your body easier after it drags alongside a thousand miles in the water. I've never understood why anyone would use a tether/jackline system running at the toe rail that would still allow them to fully enter the water. Single handed, there's no crew to pull you out. My jackline arrangement rises as it goes aft so the water movement assists in pushing you back aboard. At least it will until the lifeline stanchions get in the way.

The inspectors and the board are now considering my request to install my stanchions (two fewer now, thanks) on the hull. So I haven't yet started boring holes. Time's getting short.

[Steevee]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhvRQyRdVEI
edit:
In this instance the Republicans might be right, pbryant

[pbryant]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhvRQyRdVEI
edit:
In this instance the Republicans might be right, pbryant

The Republican Party is always right -- extreme right.

[sleddog]

I've never understood why anyone would use a tether/jackline system running at the toe rail that would still allow them to fully enter the water. Single handed, there's no crew to pull you out. My jackline arrangement rises as it goes aft so the water movement assists in pushing you back aboard.

Point well taken: if one is clipping a tether to a jackline, at least clip to the high side. Even so, wet webbing jacklines can stretch several feet. We lost a dear friend several years ago, a SHTP vet, who went over the leeward lifelines while tethered to his boat on a singlehanded return from Catalina.

My preference, if heeled over, is a tether clipped to something solid on the windward side, like a padeye. Then if any slack remains in the tether, taking turns around a windward side winch until little or no slack remains, just so you can't get launched across the cockpit.

On WILDFLOWER, on the first night of the 1996 Pacific Cup, in seas 12-16 feet, we were knocked down several times, ripping the solar panel and Life Sling off the stern. Little did we know that nearby, the driver of a DH Moore-24 was washed overboard. Luckily, she was tethered. But she was dragged astern for several minutes, her partner unable to stop the boat until all sail was dropped and secured.

Exhausted, he couldn't get her aboard, her inflated PFD hindering rather than helping pull the waterlogged crew person through the lifelines. Nor was any halyard long enough to reach the water for hoisting purposes.

Somehow he got her back, hypothermic and weak. They retired and returned safely to Santa Cruz.

Hans, a veteran of the first two SHTP's, and then two more, used to practice climbing from the water back aboard his Cal-40 CHAPPAREL by hooking a leg and arm over the rail, and pulling himself back. Hans was very strong. He subsequently managed to put his practiced technique to good use when washed overboard, untethered, at the entrance to the Ala Wai. The incredible story of Hans rescuing himself and his boat is told at "New Boat 4 Sled."

Some may remember flaming red haired Peggy Slater, a part time resident of Kauai, and firm supporter of early SHTP's. Peggy was single-handing her red K-43, VALENTINE, to Hawaii and went overboard while sail handling on a slippery foredeck in the boisterous Molokai Channel.

Peggy was dragged alongside for 11 hours until a wave picked her up and washed her back aboard... Now totally exhausted, and downwind and out of sight of Oahu, Peggy radioed the CG for a course bearing to Honolulu. To avoid legal responsibility of giving a course that might be in error, the CG gave Peggy their radio bearing to VALENTINE , the reciprocal of what Peggy asked for. In her exhausted state, Peggy steered the CG course given, away from Hawaii, for several days, until found by a searching aircraft and rescued by a diverted freighter. VALENTINE was ultimately towed back to Honolulu by the chastened Coasties.

As Peggy later said, "I believe I'm the only person to sail to Hawaii underwater,"

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm6305509/bio

[pbryant]

All good lessons. My jacklines are round woven rope, pulled tight under tension, comprised of "static kernmantle" line used by by mountain rescuers, i.e., its outer layer is steam-fused to the core to prevent "milking" (outer layer sliding over the core), and it glows-in-the-dark. Specs here..

The line runs along the cabin top from the cockpit to a large padeye (I don't like falling on horn cleats) that is throughbolted to a stainless backing plate through a reinforced section of the cabin top at the bow. I'm confident the boat could be raised from the water by that padeye. It is a minimum distance of 3 feet to the tow rail athwart, and my tether, attached to a 4 point harness is 2 feet long. I crawl to and from the foredeck, from the shrouds forward. Which means, even when healed 45 degrees with the toe rail submerged, I can only be in the water from the waist down. By the way, at that stage, the lee lifeline would also be submerged and mostly worthless.

Since I have no lifeline stanchions on the foredeck, I have plenty of sidedeck room to crawl. I've planned out my lifelines. The lines will run from the bow pulpit rail to the upper shrouds, eliminating stanchions on the foredeck. That run is just under the 87 inch maximum.

[Philpott]

"Yes, but what if the mast goes?"
If the mast goes, the lifelines, whether supported by stanchions or not, are probably going too, and there are bigger fish to fry.

Jackie here, just because disagreeing elicits entertaining responses sometimes while I'm here tethered to my workroom:
When my mast jumped off Dura Mater the only damage was a bent bow pulpit and a slight scrape to her name on the starboard side of her hull. Everything else was fine, including stanchions and skipper. Of course, we were in the bay and Sal and Mary on Capo Gato fame towed us into the San Francisco marina, so maybe it is not pertinent to this conversation, but still, there you have it.