Winterising without laying the mast: Winter storage with upright mast - pros and cons
Morten Strauch
· 31.10.2024
The same agony every year. It's not just that the season is over far too early and you feel like you haven't been out on the water enough. On top of that, there's the annoying task of laying the mast, uncraning and winterising the boat. Then, in spring, the roll backwards. As we know, corona has driven so many people onto the water that not only the harbours are bursting at the seams, but also the winter storage facilities. Getting hold of a warm indoor berth is therefore as realistic as being offered a berth on Lake Constance. In outdoor storage, on the other hand, there is often a place where the boat can spend the winter well cooled. And it is also easy on the boat's budget.
In recent years, a trend has emerged in Germany that has long been common practice in Scandinavia, Holland and the Mediterranean: simply leaving the mast standing when the ship is brought ashore and put into hibernation.
Winter storage with upright mast has several advantages
The advantages are obvious: in addition to the reduced effort involved in winterising and winterising and the use of any existing winter tarpaulin that uses the boom as a support, owners can also look forward to even more cost savings. There is also no risk of something going wrong when hoisting the mast.
More and more harbour operators have responded to the increased demand and are offering both options for outdoor storage in addition to indoor storage. Operators may lose out on income from laying and positioning the masts and storing them, but in times of acute shortage of skilled labour, at least many ships can be handled in less time. Nevertheless, many owners in Germany frown on boats standing on land with masts.
Anyone who has laid their own rig every year of their sailing life and stowed it in the mast store is more likely to see leaving it standing as a sign of laziness. It is an undisputed fact that the wind load on the mast also leads to more pressure on the hull, which cannot be equalised as in the water. There, the boat has the opportunity to lean and work with the mooring lines, whereas on land it stands rigidly on the trestle and is therefore exposed to enormous forces.
A standing mast means wind load that the boat cannot compensate for
Uwe Gräfer, expert for recreational craft and shipbuilding, comments: "Every year we have to report cases of damage caused by winter storage with a standing mast, which are clearly due to the fact that the wind load on the rigging causes the bracing timbers to press into the hull. I have had to inspect massive cruising boats that were affected by this."
The mast, including the wires, halyards and the furling jib, which may still be attached, quickly adds up to a few square metres of windage, which, with the corresponding height, would exert enormous leverage pressure on the hull. This can also cause boats to slip or tip out of the trestle, Gräfer continues. The expert would rather leave his own boat in the water during the winter than on land with the mast in place. "The vibrations in the rig alone, which are transferred to the entire hull, are a strain on the material. If this happens all year round, it is a permanent stress for the boat, especially if it no longer has any alternating loads on land and can't avoid them."
The bigger the yacht, the more expensive it is to lay the mast
Yachts are not usually parked on the open field, but in the lee of the large warehouses, and there are certainly ways of additionally stabilising the mast-bearing ships. Yachtwerft Heiligenhafen has been using oversized bearing blocks for 15 years, which have six instead of four lateral supports. Large, deep boats are also anchored to the ground with lines via the cleats. Nevertheless, according to Managing Director Urs Weisel, the wind has changed: "We now only put boats in winter storage with the mast upright in exceptional cases, as we clearly advise owners not to do so. However, we also have a large charter company as a customer that uses the outdoor storage with 60 rigged boats. The masts should remain standing for cost reasons."
This is quite understandable given the large number of yachts, when the flat rate for laying and positioning the rig and the mast storage alone costs 400 euros per boat. If the customer cannot or does not want to take on the preparation for rigging, this drives up prices depending on the size of the boat. Due to the labour hours involved, a 42-foot boat can incur additional costs of 2,000 to 3,000 euros for rigging and de-rigging alone. With the longer rigs of the sometimes much larger ships, even the mast crane can no longer cope and a special crane has to be ordered. Well, if you own a particularly large yacht, you should not be surprised that everything around the boat becomes correspondingly more expensive: Sails, tarpaulins, moorings, maintenance and winter storage.
Mast laying is also important for maintenance
Speaking of maintenance: According to Dirk Hilcken from insurance broker Pantaenius, a proper mast check is best done with the rig laid down. "We have every opportunity here in Northern Europe to lay and store the rig properly and therefore inspect it in the best possible way - why shouldn't we make use of this? Out at sea, a problem with the mast can quickly have dramatic consequences. That's why proper maintenance of the boat, including the entire rig ashore, is a basic requirement of good seamanship. The mast on a sailing boat is clearly a life insurance policy that should not be cut corners."
The mast is a life insurance policy that should not be saved at the wrong end" (Dirk Hilcken, Pantaenius)
There are inspection and maintenance schedules for cars, especially new and leased vehicles, which specify when components that are prone to wear and tear need to be replaced. In addition, the MOT checks every few years. There is none of this for boats; everything is the owner's responsibility. For Hilcken, in addition to checking sea valves and safety equipment, proper winter storage is also part of the procedure for every yacht that starts the season in spring. However, according to industry leader Pantaenius, there is no difference in hull insurance whether a boat is stored outdoors with the mast down or upright.
Only in the event of gross negligence with regard to the storage location and securing the ship could the insurance not apply if damage occurs in winter storage. However, the owner would have to prove "that damage was knowingly caused", as the jargon goes. In such a case, the court would have the final say, but it is highly unlikely that gross negligence would be proven in this context.
Who pays if the yacht tips over in a storm?
Anyone who triggers a domino effect during a storm does not automatically have to pay for the damage caused by others. Above certain wind speeds, force majeure is assumed and not the fault of the neighbour due to improper storage. In English, this is eloquently referred to as an "act of God", i.e. an act of God from which nobody can protect themselves.
Dirk Hilcken comments: "In the boating sector, we have fault-based liability, not strict liability as in the motor vehicle sector. If cars were to tip over in a storm, liability insurers would have to pay according to the law. In the case of ships, however, it must be proven that the owner did or failed to do something negligent for someone else to be able to make a claim. In the event of storm damage, therefore, the owner's own hull insurance usually takes effect, which many owners find difficult to understand as it does not fit in with their own sense of justice. According to the law, cars are considered a particularly dangerous introduction into traffic, which is why the owner is liable - but this does not apply to boats."
In the end, the insurance companies may not care if more and more owners leave their rigs parked and cause more damage as a result. If there are indeed higher loss ratios, the premium increase will naturally be borne by the insurance community. So far, however, Pantaenius has not been able to confirm that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of claims due to abandoned winter storage masts in Germany. Nor can the insurer provide any information on the situation in our neighbouring country to the west, Holland, where there are traditionally always a large number of boats whose owners choose not to rig them, due to a lack of reliable data.
Raised masts are common in the Netherlands
But what do the Dutch themselves have to say? A large harbour operator with several locations did not want to comment when asked by YACHT. They would rather not argue with the German experts, they said tersely on the phone. Is it the fear of the notorious German know-it-all attitude? Rieks Buitenhuis from Sailcentre Makkum, on the other hand, is more forthcoming, even if a certain caution is also evident here. "We check the ships before a storm, during the storm and after the storm. You can already see that the yachts with the mast up are more unsteady than the boats that are rigged down. I therefore always advise my customers to lower the mast, but many simply don't want to. We follow the customer's wishes, unless the hulls are already rotten so that the bows would push through."
Old rigs are generally a risk in strong winds - whether on land or at sea" (Rieks Buitenhuis, Sailcentre Makkum)
According to Buitenhuis, there are some harbours where the masts are taken down, but only if the owner has prepared everything for this. In spring, the mast is put back up, but not trimmed and secured by experts. "Sometimes old, worn material goes back up. Old rigs are generally a risk in strong winds - whether on land or at sea!"
The Germans first have to be convinced that it also works with an upright mast
In contrast, harbour master Claus Boisen from Marina Minde in southern Denmark, where many German permanent residents have moved, is completely relaxed. "Half of the 100 boats in our outdoor storage area in Toft have a mast. The trend is still rising, but it has always been the norm here, just like in many other countries. The Germans first have to be slowly convinced that it can also work this way. So far, we haven't had any verifiable damage due to standing masts. In 2013, we had a hurricane in Denmark with 'Allan', which swept over us at 195 kilometres per hour. That was so extreme that it didn't matter whether the rigs were upright or not - everything fell over."
In 2013, we had a hurricane that swept over us at 195 km/h. It didn't matter whether the rigs were upright or not - everything fell over" (Claus Boisen, Marina Minde)
When it comes to inspecting pylons, Boisen advises his customers to lay the pylon every other year so that it can be thoroughly checked. "However, we also have a ladder that we can use to drive up in the spring to inspect terminals, cable connections or spreaders. That's much better than having to work from a wobbly bosun's chair."
You should pay attention to this during winter storage with the mast upright
All harbour operators agree on what to look out for when wintering with a standing mast. Vibrations in the rig caused by the halyards flapping should be avoided as far as possible, which is why the lines should be tied off very well. Not only do the vibrations run into the hull and cause wear and tear, but the noise between the warehouses would be almost unbearable. It would even be ideal to replace the halyards with retracted pilot lines so that they do not snag over the winter. Under no circumstances, however, should the main halyard or any other halyard be used to anchor the mast to the ground upwind when a storm is approaching. The rig and hull would then work against each other.
To protect deep boats in particular, which have a larger area exposed to the wind, from strong winds, lines can be led from the cleats to retaining rings or concrete blocks embedded in the floor. Another trick, which can also be found in the rigging guide from mast manufacturer Seldén, is to loosen the shrouds slightly. This moves the tensioners slightly and prevents them from rotting so quickly. It is also important to plan carefully, which is somewhat more complicated when the mast is upright.
Customised tarpaulin or no tarpaulin at all
Cheap DIY tarpaulins should be avoided, as they can almost never withstand the stresses and strains and contribute to possible damage by flapping. The best option is a customised winter tarpaulin from a sailmaker, on which no water pockets form. And: It should not be stretched over the railing. Otherwise, the railing supports run the risk of being pushed inwards, for which they are not designed.
The wedges on which the boat is supported should also not be included when tensioning the tarpaulin, because if the fabric does start to flap, it could lead to a fatal chain reaction: The wedges are knocked out by the guy line, the boat loses its hold and tips out of the winter storage trestle - possibly onto another boat, which in turn tips onto another. The famous butterfly effect, triggered by a little carelessness.
If you are too late to order the tarpaulin, it is better not to do so at all in case of doubt. You will then have to scrub the boat properly with boat shampoo in spring, but this may be the lesser of two evils.
Many experts strongly advise against going into winter storage with a standing mast
You provide strong arguments in favour of this. Given the large number of ships that spend the winter rigged abroad and where there is no evidence that this leads to a significantly higher damage rate, the question arises as to the proportionality of all the concerns. According to Dirk Hilcken, the fact is that the average damage is higher in winter than in the summer months, even if the frequency of damage is lower. Warehouse fires and burglaries are among the main causes, along with storm damage.
The decision on how to winterise your boat is of course up to you. Anyone thinking about it should consider an alternative: The most favourable option is to winter your boat in the water, which is also possible in our climes thanks to special anti-freeze systems. The potential for damage is lower there, but what remains is the more time-consuming mast check.
