[C320-list] Is there a weight limit to going to the top of themast.

[John P. Fitzgibbon]

I use a device called a "rope grab" (rg).  The rg is attached to the spare halyard, which is secured and doesn't have to be manned as you go up the mast.  The rg follows you up on the spare halyard as you ascend on the primary halyard.  Should the primary halyard fail the rg locks or grabs the spare halyard and arrest your fall.  The spare halyard would then have to be manually handled to lower you to the deck.  

To really understand what the halyard will support find out from the mfg what the rated breaking strength of the line is.   You want to know that, for example,  if you weigh 200lb's, the halyard has at least a minimum breaking strength of 1000lbs, a 5 to 1 safety factor.  A 2000lb rated line will provide a 10 to factor of safety.   The higher the breaking strength the greater the margin of safety.   It wouldn't be surprising if the breaking strength of the halyards were rated at 10k or greater.  

If the halyard fails you want your fall arrested in as short a distance possible.  The longer the free fall the higher the load will be on the line that must arrest your fall.

Hope this helps

Jack
s/v wetted bliss
#441