Stanchions w cable Vs fixed railing

[PeteHalstedc]

While on the subject, (hopefully not hijacking the thread)...

Why are most of the cables I see in rails vinyl coated?

I am guessing it is to keep broken strands from becoming splinters? But all the ones I see the UV had made the vinyl and brittle and seems just as bad.

[bailsout]

I never bang up my lifelines or stanchions because whenever I buy a boat with the I remove them and epoxy fill the remaining holes. Then I make sure to add any attachments for tethering.

[svHyLyte]

We recently saw a Tarten 40 at the St. Pete Yacht Club that had replaced his upper lifelines with 7/8" SS Tubing. Small lengths of tubing were welded to the underside of the rail at the point of each stanchion and slipped over the stanchions and held in place with set-screws. The rails were attached to the bow and stern pulpits with end fittings that took spring-lock pins. It was a pretty sturdy arrangement that looked good. When we spoke with the owner, he was very pleased with the arrangement although he admitted it had been a costly addition.

FWIW...

[Cheechako]

I like the welded rail concept around the back and up to the gates forward of the cockpit. Sturdy to grab as you are moving out of the cockpit and moving forward. The force of the water will bend railing forward of that, it bends just stancions sometimes. So that is one thing to think about.
Also, it's very hard to get a welded rail assembly to fit properly on a big piece. I've done it on first run prototype boats, and it often takes a while to tweek it to where the bolt down pads actually fit the deck angle well.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by PeteHalstedc

While on the subject, (hopefully not hijacking the thread)...

Why are most of the cables I see in rails vinyl coated?

I am guessing it is to keep broken strands from becoming splinters? But all the ones I see the UV had made the vinyl and brittle and seems just as bad.

Yeah, a little more pleasant on the hands and protects from splinters I suppose, but when the vinyl is deteriorated it's time to replace the cable anyway. I've done them uncovered, they aren't bad that way, possibly less corrosion too, and you can tell what the wire looks like visually.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Yeah, a little more pleasant on the hands and protects from splinters I suppose, but when the vinyl is deteriorated it's time to replace the cable anyway. I've done them uncovered, they aren't bad that way, possibly less corrosion too, and you can tell what the wire looks like visually.

Local ocean racing rules around here have precluded the use of coated lifelines for years now.

Originally Posted by victalbies

As for guests I prefer to have a solid strong top railing for better holding and safety

If the guests NEED lifelines to go forward, they shouldn't be allowed to go forward by the skipper, whether based on conditions or the agility or lack thereof of the guests.

[northwestsailor]

Last year I converted my boat from two lifelines to a solid top rail and two lifelines. The top rail comes to about 39 inches above the deck which will make it much harder to fall over. Doesn't make getting on and off the boat any easier but once you are aboard plan on staying there.

[patrick brooks]

ahoy, as another option , I think in am going to install a amsteel life lines .one could do a search for backwinded .com article new pair of shoes for your boat. would like others input . fair winds

[BobFord]

My opinion , from a cat perspective. Solid continuous rail and mid rail provides a high degree of security and 'hook on ', if going forward in emergency situations. Previous cats , with wire , caused me to look for hand holds on cabin top.

[Mithril Bham]

I was taught to never touch the lifelines. They are for last resort for saving life. Thus the name. I am seriously looking at replacing my wire lifelines with Dynax Dux. Stronger, nice look and feel better. Very much a question of personal preference.

[roland stockham]

I have had both, would say the advantages of fixed rails are that they feel more secure when you hang on to them as they are solid, no wobble. Stanchion basses take less load so you get fewer leaks and fastener problems. They are probably stronger.
The down side is that any damage from either dockside or people swinging on them or falling tends to be a much bigger job to repair and because of the extra strength can mean that if they are overloaded you get damage to the deck, pulpit and pushpit. With wires it tends to be only the stanchion at the overload point that goes as load is less distributed.
I am going back to wires at the moment but using Vectron. Looks good, the feel is more like heavy plastic coated wire. Although it is more expensive than wire you can lash it in place to less expensive fitting. Looks good. Will see how it works out.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by sailormed

Look at Amels, they have both, fixed above, cable lower. Seems a good solution to me. But more expensive of course.

Having a steel boat, the original owner chose both as well: "pipe rails" and a cable below. As every stanchion is welded to the deck, I feel pretty secure. You can see that it's all pipe at the pulpit and stern here:

[Redline452]

When we added our arch, i had them integrate the aft pulpit and solid lifelines up to the boarding gates. Makes the while structure nice and rigid, not overly bulky looking, and bes if a a solid handhold from gates aft to the cockpit.

Only unforseen side-effect was that we need the $8 plastic clothespins to hang up towels; regular pins don't fit.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by Redline452

Only unforseen side-effect was that we need the $8 plastic clothespins to hang up towels; regular pins don't fit.

Had you considered draping the towels over the rail and then just using regular pins to clip the towel to itself? Yup, $8 pins are costly, what do they look like and where did you get them?

[Redline452]

We found them in a couple marinas along the way (hence the price), they are cheaper elsewhere. Ours look like a huge blue plastic clothespin (duh) with a curved hook on one leg, which snaps over the rail.

We typically hang towels from the forward lifelines with regular pins, but for dishcloths etc, the big ones work well and actually hold much more tightly than the regular small pins.




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