Cutting Comments
The explosive bolt cutters have been around for quite a few years now, although I cannot find a link offhand. Try a shout to Brion Toss for more info,
http://www.briontoss.com/.
Here is a link for a hydraulic version:
http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|118|107602|108024&id=155930
$735. from Defender Indus. This would also avoid any remotely-possible legal hassle over having a "firearm" on board.
I would only add that for a small boat with: 1) a deck-stepped mast, and 2) internal halyards, you should be able to jetison the pretzeled rig by pulling the pins at all deck connection points and then cutting loose the halyards where they are still holding the butt of the spar near the cabintop step. That's what we did when we had to jetison the hairpinned spar on a Ranger(Yacht) 29, off the Washington coast, over two decades ago.
The memory lingers...
That particular boat had, it turned out, crevice corrosion inside one of the swages on a lower shroud. The wire parted inside the top part of the normal-appearinbg swage, the other lower broke the toggle with a bang, and the rig folded neatly at the spreaders and collapsed over the side -- all this in a heartbeat!
For the driver, it happened so fast that the only sensation was a loud bang, and the realization the boat was stopped and there was nothing to impede vision forward anymore! :eek:
I was driving, closehulled, on a sunny day with seas about the usual summery 3 to 4 feet, with the lapper and main. Summer vacation and the trip north ended abruptly; we returned to Astoria with the boom, the jib, and nothing else...
What with the "party line" aspect of VHF radio, and our check-in calls to the Coast Guard, we were well known around the docks the moment we arrived!
The rig was only a bit over a decade in age, but had been raced a lot in (salty) Puget Sound before being purchased by the owner I was sailing with.
It was a valuable learning experience, but not one I would care to repeat.
Cheers,
Loren in PDX