Safety at the bow

[pwilletts]

I have a 25'day sailor...very traditional /classic boat.....the problem is that there are no safety holds at any point fwd of the mast....no stanchions/lines or pulpit...nothing to hold on to....BTW there is a bow sprite also. I need something in keeping with the traditional theme...a small/modified pulpit might work but would look strange....small(18") stanchions might be ok starting from the cabin bulkhead fwd ending at the spite....also a hold on the mast might work but not far enough fwd....any ideas??

[UNCIVILIZED]

On the 12m's, & some of the IACC boats we had "handrails" on the foredeck which the cutouts that you grabbed onto were tall enough so that when standing up you could hook the front half of your foot underneath of them, & use them to brace for stability. Some of the boats had them very near the edges of the deck where lifelines & stanchions would normally be, while others had them set about 1' in from the deck edges. And or with a set of 2 parallel to each other, spaced a bit farther apart than a deck hatch is wide.
Regardless, they made great tools for "staying attached" to the foredeck/boat, as well as for lashing sails to, etc. And given that they were metal, there wasn't ever a question about their strength.

I've seen similar done on some small boats: 20-30', especially the setup where they're parallel to each other, about 2' apart. Along with some others strategically placed at the deck edge, to act both as handholds, as well as toe rails. And it was quite a sharp looking setup. Even more so given that they were wooden, & matched the other trim on the boat.
Though were I to use wooden ones, I'd want them to be wood reinforced composite ones. So that they'd be a lot stronger than plain old teak or mahogany. Which, I built a few such parts for my Dad's boat using carbon fiber, epoxy, & mahogany.

One other option is to go with a single railing on the foredeck on each side. Be it a tubular trapezoidal or rectangular one on each side just up by the bow. Or the same, but a bit longer, stretching back almost to the beginning of the boat's cabin. With diagonal bracings down to the deck as needed in order to retain good strength in order to keep errant crew onboard. And some rails & pullpits are even built so that some of their "feet" are bolted to the sides of the hull, right below the gunwale, instead of to the topsides. Along with a few legs to said pulpits with extra bracing bolted to the deck where needed.

I know that it'll sound counterintuitive, but there are a lot of out of the ordinary, classy looking, functional pulpits, pushpits, & railings, on many racing boats. Both production vessels, & one-design classes. So it's worth taking a look. And you also might have a chat with a couple of guys who do custom work like this on boats. As they're artists as much as they are metal fabricators. And have done some sweet work for me, as well as friends over the years.
Peruse the jboats.com page, along with Class40, & the 6.50m class boats. Most all of them are unique, custom, highly functional designs.