That or baby stays. I've been planning to add baby stays, thinking that the gin pole + stays will be easier to store and transport than an A-frame, but I haven't used either approach, so I can't really comment on the pros and cons of either approach.
Baby stays and a gin pole are indeed easier to transport and store. Wire cable works much better than rope or straps because it has virtually no stretch at the load generated. We used 7x19 because it’s flexible and easy to coil and store
I’ve built several mast raising systems for various boats over the decades and the safest ones use lateral wires (aka baby-stays) on both the mast and the gin pole. The best one for a boat with a furler that I’ve seen is the one for a Farrier 22; it controls the furler effortlessly.
Here are some videos of the mast raising system we built for our 1992 F24. The mast is about 34 feet long and quite a heavy extrusion.
Here’s the system used on the new F22s. The components are more elegantly made than ours are, but the principle is the same.
Judy B
