The crew member is now safely at the masthead and can see the halyard wrapped around the wind instrument bracket. How should they proceed?

A. Work calmly and methodically to unwrap the line by hand, communicating clearly with the deck team throughout, rather than yanking or forcing it, which could damage the instrument or destabilise their own position

B. Cut the halyard at the masthead without trying to unwrap it first

C. Stop communicating with the deck team once aloft to "concentrate"

D. Pull as hard as possible on the wrapped line regardless of what it might damage

A. A jam like this is always caused by the sail being the wrong size for the boat

B. The halyard has almost certainly wrapped around something at the masthead — a spreader, the VHF aerial, the wind instrument, or twisted itself — and is now fouled, which is a common cause of a sudden jam partway up a hoist

C. This pattern means the wind has suddenly become too strong to hoist any sail at all

D. This always means the mast itself is about to fail structurally

A. Wrap the halyard around a winch and crank it tight regardless of the jam

B. Cut the halyard immediately without trying anything else first

C. Pull as hard as possible with extra crew to try to force the sail the rest of the way up

D. Stop pulling immediately and ease the tension off — continuing to haul or sheet in hard risks damaging the halyard, the masthead fitting, or pulling something loose up the mast that could then fall