Going up the mast while on the hard?

[marlinmike]

Need to do some rigging, boat is up on land in boat yard, looks well supported, wondering should I wait until its back in the water, or am I over thinking this, weigh around 170lbs.

[KDH]

What does the yard say? Our yard had a rule against climbing masts on the hard. That said, our rigger did it anyway. Not sure I would.

[Mirar]

No way, think of the righting moments of 170#, 30-40 ft up the mast. Think of it as having a 6 or 7 thousand pound force trying to tip your boat over. Maybe if the boat was buried up to the rails in dirt I would try it.
regards, Greg

[bornyesterday]

If you have doubts then maybe there's a reason for them. Best not do it unless you're sure.
I've done it but I have mast steps.

[Noreastern]

I have done it a couple of times. Almost all of force of your weight is straight down the mast unless your hanging out on the spreaders or stays which I would not do on the hard. I would also never go up the mast on the hard if it was anything but dead calm wind.

[StuM]

On a cat, possibly, depending on how it sits. On a monohull, no

[Stumble]

Marlin,

Unless there is a critical need to do so absolutely not. Even on a big boat (over 70') the amount of force that someone up the rig can apply is massive, and cane sails be more than enough to knock over the stands.

I have done it exactly once, and we didn't have any other choice. The big travel lift was out of commission and the smaller one wasn't tall enough to put the boat back in the water (16' deep keep in a specially dug trench). Even so we lowered the boat all the way to the ground, used every halyard on the boat as guide ropes, and everyone working on it was sweating bullets. Everyone there was a professional, most of us had a lot of time put he rig on big boats ect... But none of us wanted to be the guy to go up.

Can it be done? Yes
Will you get away with it? Sometimes
Is it safe? Not on your life

I would rather go up the rig in 25kn with a chute and full whites than do that non-sence again. You could feel the boat rocking and rolling.

[delmarrey]

I've done it many times but of course I had 8 stands under the hull, 2 of which we're pushing sideways on the hull, not just carrying the weight.

And then again it depends on the weight of the hull. Anything under 5 tons, not for me.

[marlinmike]

Thank you one and all for weighing in on this, my gut feel was it wasnt the best idea, we are new to sail boat world, so wanted to pole the experts on here, we'll wait until its floating on the mooring.
Thanks again!