Where should I attach and how should I set up jackstays on a Hallberg-Rassy 39 Mk II?
I've got a Hallberg-Rassy 39 Mk II, and the previous owner left a pair of jackstays in a bag with some spliced loops. They aren't long enough to reach between the obvious deck fittings. Where should they attach, and are the loops meant to extend them?
Answer
On your Hallberg-Rassy 39 Mk II, attach jackstays to verified structural strongpoints so you can clip on from the centre cockpit and move forward with your tether kept inboard. Do not assume the inherited stays should reach the bow and stern fittings: establish how they were intended to attach and inspect the separate loops before using them as extensions.
Inspect the inherited equipment
Lay both jackstays and every loose loop out on the pontoon. Measure their usable lengths between bearing points and identify whether they are webbing, wire or rope. Check for labels, damaged stitching, broken wires, chafe and corrosion hidden inside protective sleeves.
A spliced loop could be an attachment strop, part of a tensioning arrangement or something unrelated. Finding it in the bag tells you nothing about its purpose or strength. If you cannot establish its material, age and construction, replace it before trusting it with a person.
Check the boat's paperwork and ask the previous owner for a photograph of the installed arrangement. Do not treat a pair of visible deck fittings as the standard jackstay endpoints on every HR 39 Mk II. Owner modifications also matter.
Check attachment load paths
On a centre-cockpit yacht, start by considering one jackstay along each side deck, with its aft end accessible from the cockpit and its forward end positioned to serve the foredeck. Neither end necessarily needs to reach the extremity of the boat.
Inspect candidate fittings above and below deck:
- Dedicated safety padeyes: confirm their intended use and check the through-bolts, backing arrangements and surrounding laminate condition.
- Mooring cleats: substantial, properly backed cleats may be suitable, but verify their installation and the direction of the jackstay's pull.
- Other deck eyes: establish what they were fitted for. Appearance alone is insufficient.
Do not attach to guardwires, stanchions, ordinary pulpit rails or unverified toerail fittings. A fitting used to park a running backstay is not automatically a personnel safety attachment.
Have a rigger or yard confirm any doubtful fitting and its backing structure before loading the system with a person.
Check length and end connections
First check whether a sewn or spliced eye was intended to pass around a suitable cleat or connect through a separate strop. This may explain the apparent shortfall, but the complete arrangement must be correctly designed.