Safety Harness fixing points in 43DS

[alcheringa]

We recently purchased a 2005 43DS and while the good news is it's fitted with good jackstays up the decks, the bad news is there seems to be nowhere to clip on our safety harnesses in the cockpit. We will be doing a number of night passages and have always clipped on after dark and in rough stuff.

What do other people with this model do? Has anyone got any suggestions of where and what to fit to provide adequate clip on points.

[rxc]

Which cockpit table do you have -the teak one or the plastic one? We have the teak model, and we use both the handhold on the fwd end of the table and the support tube fwd of the steering pedestal.

However, I can't give you much practical experience with hooking in, because we also sail with a full enclosure. Because of that, have pretty much given up, over the years, with hooking up, except for the cats, who need to be constrained at night...

With the RF main and jib, I have never had to go out on deck to do any sail changes, and I consider that a good thing. I do run jacklines, just in case, but have never had to use them.

[alcheringa]

Thanks for the feedback. We have the plastic table. We too have used the hand holds so far but would like a more secure solution.We're planning on doing the ARC next year and doubt the hand hold rail would satisfy their safety requirements.

[davideso37]

alcheringa,
Vert wise to clip on after dark and in rough stuff. We always clip on in any conditions off the coast. In our SO37 I have a point on the cockpit floor just aft of the companionway so that we can clip on before coming on deck. We have points on the cockpit sides both sides for working the winches. I have still to add one aft of the wheel and one at the mast. I think jackstays allow you to fall too far and a point near the mast that stopped one going through the rails would be very handy. Only downside is that we knock our shins on the clipping points but a small price to pay for peace of mind.
Regards
David

[alcheringa]

Thanks for the reply David. Any chance of a couple of photos to see what you've used?

[davideso37]

alcheringa,
I use a 3/8 inch saddle. Yes they still sell imperial unit gear in Australia.
You can see am image on the local chandlers web site
www.whitworths.com.au/main_itemdetail.asp?cat=153&item=91539&intAbsolutePage=1
The strength of the hull where you fix it is important. I have one through the cockpit floor which is a very thick structure. For the two on the side of the cockpit seats I was lucky to have the strong reinforcing for the traveller on the SunFast37 (Same hull, different rig). There was already a very strong glassed in reinforcing piece. For the extra behind the wheel I need to glass in a plywood insert and that is why it is not done yet.
Regards

David

[alcheringa]

Thanks David. I've been able to find something similar at a chandlers here in Gibraltar and will fit them next week. My wife and I along with our boat partner, Marc, plan to head back into the Med around the end of the month so we're just trying to finish off the little jobs. We're Aussies too by the way.
If you're interested you can check out our story at www.dreamtimesail.blogspot.com/

Cheers mate.

[Mistroma]

I think that the Jeanneau 42DS has quite large Rutgerson folding padeyes as anchor points.
These are a lot weaker than the Wichard ones which are eye-wateringly expensive.

www.s3i.co.uk/wichard-folding-pad-eye.php
Witchard quote safe working load (SWL) and breaking loads are a lot higher
8mm 2.4 - 2.7 Tonnes
10mm 4 - 4.5 Tonnes

Rutgerson
www.duncanyacht.co.uk/showpartnumber.asp?PartNumberID=248429
Breaking load of 1.5 Tonnes (not SWL) for a larger 14mm padeye.

I'm afraid that I can't remember the sizes of standard fittings. I did buy one very cheaply from eBay but that was only for lashing the dinghy on the stern.

Check the SWL for the set screws used to mount these padeyes and size of the backing pads. I doubt Jeanneau's standard fittings exceed the strength of the padeyes they use. If you come to the same conclusion then you might be happy with larger padeyes of similar quality to the Rutgerson units.

They are quite tidy and Jeanneau fit one in front of the cockpit table and a second directly behind it.

[alcheringa]

All done. We now have four secure points for harness attachments. One more job off the list before we head back into the Med.

I've put some pics on our blog. dreamtimesail.blogspot.com/2013/02/itching-to-sail-away-into-mediterranean.html

Cheers all who helped. Thanks