mast raising

[MacBeane]

Very interesting. I had just about decided to go with cleats through bolted at the mast about 6' up (I can use the cleats regardless of the baby stays right now cleats are at the mast base (?)) and then install folding pad eyes outside the current triple block (see previous pics) at the level of the raised deck in line at the height with the mast base. I can use the folding pad eyes for other uses, harnesses and such, and since they're folding hopefully we won't be breaking our pinky toes a million times.

But now you have me thinking about attaching to the gin pole. Your wires run from the gin pole down to... A harness? Or the lower deck area near the gunwhale? For raising, I'm planning on using the trailer hitch strap running through a huge snatch block hanging from the bow rail, that seemed to work fine based on previous attempts.

Thanks for your info it's appreciated.

 

[mikeracca]

I read most but not all, so forgive me if someone already mentioned this. Don’t transport your boat with the mast on the step! As you drive this will cause the mast to bounce (nothing you can really do about that) and this will put a lot of torque on the step which could poss pull it from the deck. The step is designed to be with compression loads not tension loads. Unbolt the mast and tie it to the railings fore and aft.

As for the mast raising system… I highly recommend it. It was worth every penny, and I know it cost a few pennys to purchase. The mini stays work great and keep the pole in line, the winch is effortless and you always have complete control. It makes attaching and tensioning the forestay a breeze. I leave my pole and mast support in the truck when I’m all set up and ready to sail. I also put my mast up while on the trailer, but it could just as easily be done in the water as well.

 

[MacBeane]

I read most but not all, so forgive me if someone already mentioned this. Don’t transport your boat with the mast on the step! As you drive this will cause the mast to bounce (nothing you can really do about that) and this will put a lot of torque on the step which could poss pull it from the deck. The step is designed to be with compression loads not tension loads. Unbolt the mast and tie it to the railings fore and aft.

As for the mast raising system… I highly recommend it. It was worth every penny, and I know it cost a few pennys to purchase. The mini stays work great and keep the pole in line, the winch is effortless and you always have complete control. It makes attaching and tensioning the forestay a breeze. I leave my pole and mast support in the truck when I’m all set up and ready to sail. I also put my mast up while on the trailer, but it could just as easily be done in the water as well.

I'm curious about the winch that appears to come with the official mast raising kit, where does it go, how is it attached? Pics?

Thanks for all the great comments. Appreciate it.

 

[mikeracca]

It goes about half way up the pole and there is a block at the top of the pole where the rope exits. my pole is packed up at the moment but in the pic below you can see the pole stowed inside Lilly. It’s the silver pole on the right side of the pics (port side of the boat). You can see the foot at the base which mounts to the mast step. it works great. Oh, and the winch is a clutch type, there is no ratchet and pawl to worry about. Just crank it one way for up and the other for down. I have had to stop to untangle my shrouds about half way up before and it holds solid.

 

[captcoho]

Hi,
Okay, we've made progress getting the mast to go up... But then it tips to starboard and falls onto the garage. We're obviously missing something important. The base of the mast where the bolt goes through the mast and connects to the ears has flared outward from the mast tipping. We've tried running jib halyards to the stanchions, brute force trying to hold the main halyard (of course if you pull it from stb it just starts heading to port) and we've tried getting the gin pole to remain centered, which it doesn't. I really wish the po gave us just one demo or I've at least raised a mast on something bigger than a sailing dinghy prior. All my previous vessels had fixed masts, so when the time came to unstep/step that was thr job of the friendly crane operator. Kinda frustrated at this point, hoping we've just missed an easy part that any trailer sailor would know. I'll try to attach pics.
Thanks in advance for any help,
Mac

The higher you have the mast to verticle, the less it should be able to go sideways. Do you have someone forward pulling on a halyard ? Both my 22 and 25 could utilize the trailer winch if needed.
Have you tried youtube or tic tok ??? I would think there would be several videos out there.
Good Luk

 

[mikeracca]

In my case I have mini shrouds that hold the mast as it’s being lifted. It’s an option in the kit from BWY. I leave them installed while the mast is up, but I remove them after I take the mast down so I can slide the mast forward for transport.

 

[mikeracca]

I found a couple of pics that show the additions to prevent the mast from moving side to side as it’s being lifted. They are not great or purposely made for the explanation but they do show the additional shrouds and the deck mount.

In these first 2 pics you can see the 3rd shroud. It doesn’t go all the way over to the chain plate, it just lives on the top of the deck.

This last pic is the hardware that is added to the deck to accept the new shroud.

I hope this helps you understand the system a bit better.

 

[patrickfarley]

I received a present of a tiny waterproof camera. I was setting up the sailboat and made a short video. It takes 25 minutes.
This is Lake Lanier and the boat was just cleaned, polished and waxed. Ready for the summer.
If you can watch someone slowly raising the mast feel free. Please excuse the raising shirt. There is always fast forward for the boring parts.

Smaller boats I would just push the mast up and go. Snipe 16' was 15 minutes. 22 Venture scary but 20 minutes and 15 years back in time. The snark 11' is 5 minutes. Still play with the snark for fun. I like the close feel of the wind. Stopped the sailboard 10 years ago. Too old for fun times. The sailboard took 20 minutes to set up properly.

Dropping the boat in the water is when I place the outboard and that takes 10 minutes. Placing the motor and backing into the water.
I do this alone most of the time so people still like me.

New video by Patrick Farley

photos.app.goo.gl

 

[stickinthemud57]

Very informative. Thanks for that!