PLAYING IT SAFE

In the article Staying Alive (July 2017), Peter Nielsen mentioned my preferred way of staying on board in a paragraph beginning, “Another approach to jacklines is to rig them at shoulder level…”

Lifelines are set at precisely the correct height to tip the average-size person over the side. Before setting off on a circumnavigation with my family, I seriously researched how myself, my wife, Carole, and my son Ryan (of varying sizes) could be kept safe.

Jacklines on deck, clipped to the harness, would do a perfect job of ensuring that we would remain attached to the boat, albeit while being dragged alongside. While this is preferable to bobbing in the wake, getting back on board is very difficult, even more so mid-ocean.

We decided that staying on the boat was the better option, so I rigged chest-high lines from the stern to the center shrouds, then to the pulpit on both sides of the boat. These did not interfere with the sails or lines, kept us from falling over, provided a real sense of security, were simpler to rig and use than jacklines and made a great place to hang the washing.

In our more than six-year circumnavigation, I lost track of the number of times this system kept me on the deck of our Mason 53,

Dolphin Spirit, physically. Mentally, just seeing the jacklines there provided a sense of security and confidence.

— Laurie Pane, Brisbane, Australia

AMERICA’S CUP...? I am still stewing over how contestants entering the America’s Cup have been allowed to play fast and loose with “sailing.” As far as I’m concerned, I saw nothing that even remotely had to do with it. I find it distasteful to so much as utter the word “boat” when describing something such as Oracle’s. It seems the only time these so-called “boats” even get wet is when those who are topside make a mistake and have it nose in the water. Please bring real boats back to the race—monohulls with sails that are hoisted up and down. That was real skill and talent. — Drew Thomas, USAF, (Ret.)

The article Sailing Instruments, (August 2017) was informative but left out products from Furuno. My instruments are a generation old (FI50 series) but they were easy to install and have been completely reliable. I have a 1978 Santana 525, Full Moon, old but NO S N H O J R O T still in good shape. Y B O T O H P — John Mengedoht, Seattle, WA