Rigging, Mast Raising, & a False Start

[CloudDiver]

+1 on Stingy's mast raising method on youtube w/mainsheet tackle....6 min, sngl handed, on the water???...he's got it down pat!...I don't have the skill (or cahones) to attempt that (yet)!

I'm going to give a go this weekend for attempt #2. I like that I can stand to starboard and aft of the mast to guide it while pulling the mainsheet tackle, no additional equipment or hands required. Tonight I will splice an eye into a longer length of 5/16" for the adjustable backstay tackle. I have no idea how I ended up with a length that was only 23 feet, probably started at 25 before I spliced the eye into it... I must have made it for my boom down haul or something and not realized what it was when I reeved it into the blocks. Anyway, for anyone wondering I would go at least 40 feet of line in the 8:1 tackle if you rig up your own adjustable backstay tackle so its not too short!

 

[rpludwig]

you'll be fine, just take your time....

we stepped one guys C22 yesterday, using the trailer winch only, just run across the bow to the forestay....went up fine, but took one on the winch and two on the boat (on a trailer), although a new roller furling was involved in the process and 20kts of wind wanted to push the whole mess sideways...

I used stingy's mainsheet method last time on our boat with two guys, 20 minutes...best we could do, things get tangled up, turnbuckles need adjustment, etc...

good to know re: the backstay tackle, I need to get rid of my split mess from earlier post....

 

[brockway]

I've done it using the mainsheet tackle. Make sure you have a 4:1 mainsheet ratio if working it solo. I did it with the original 3:1 and it was a terrible ordeal pulling up the mast with the mainsheet with one arm and steadying it with the other sucked.

 

[LakeShark]

I use my boom vang as it has a 4:1 setup. But @CloudDiver your a young guy just lift it up from your extended stern support. I do this almost every time and then just tighten up the vang when it's upright or if I need to stop to fix a tangle. Lowering I do almost entirely on the vang and have not had to many issues. Hardest part is just catching it in the cradle. Many of us raise and lower single handed this way every time we go out. You might be over thinking this just a bit. I start on the cabin top and face the stern then raise it to shoulder height pause, turn around, and finish raising. The main side stays come tight at shoulder height to stop it from swaying side to side. Hope this helps! And please send some Picts of you on the water!

 

[brockway]

With the 4:1 it was easy to raise and lower it to the mast crutch. Raising it solo with the 3:1 the first time was terrifying. Was afraid it was gonna flop to the side and rip the top of the cabin off while trying to get it up to where the shrouds stabilized it.

 

[Gene Neill]

If there are two people involved and the boat is on land, just tie a dang rope to the forestay. One person (the stronger of the two) stays in the cockpit and lifts the mast off the crutch, to as high as he can reach. The other person, on the ground holding the rope, pulls the mast up the rest of the way. If no shrouds snag, it takes literally three seconds to raise the stick.

The "rope guy" can be anyone weighing over 100 pounds. A teenage girl or passing random stranger is fine. It's EASY.

 

[CaptDon01]

Probably more versions of mast raising systems than different types of mouse traps. I tinkered with several, and I really like the system Steve Hock came up with, and built one myself. Great for the older versions of the C-22. But my all time favorite still is the mast raising system the Catalina factory came out with when they introduced the MK-II. All of the masts for the MK-II's and the Sport came from the factory ready to use their mast raising system. It wasn't until the factory started buying the spars from Selden that they discontinued it. No tools required, and the 4-1 purchase makes it super easy. We travel around a little and often there is no one walking by to assist, and the factory system is so easy, even a fat old decrepit sailor can easily accomplish the task by himself.

Don

Baby stays attach to the mast with T-fittings minimizing the side to side movement of the mast.

Pelican hooks attach the bottom of the baby stays to the halyard turning blocks on the cabin top

Just a pull on the line with a 4-1 purchase and up she comes easily.

A stay snags on something while raising the mast, or maybe you just want to pose for a photo? No big deal, the cam cleat on the lower fiddle block holds everything secure. The same system was offered with the C-250's with a much larger and longer mast, so on a C-22 it's way stronger than it needs to be.

 

[CloudDiver]

LakeShark , I'm still on the trailer in front of my house. The purpose of this exercise is to check everything as I reinstall all of the mast hardware and of course, practice. One critical thing is that I have not installed my halyards yet. I have the Ronstan exit 'slots' (not sheave boxes). I will post pics of those when I install them, but I want the mast up when I decide on their location and mark the positions. They will up high enough from the mast step than you can physically heave on them so eye ball height at minimum but not higher than an average person can reach. Plus, they have to be off-set from each other on either side of the mast. The slots that are drilled and cut are smaller than what you would cut for a double or even single sheave box, and separating them by say 18 inches on the vertical while juxtaposed fore and aft will prevent creating a weak spot in the mast. More on this in following posts.
P.s. I still need to fix my original resto thread by restoring the pics and then posting all of the work I have done in the last few months.

 

[LakeShark]

LakeShark , I'm still on the trailer in front of my house.

I know I was just giving you a bit of a hard time with wanting the sailing pictures. Mast raising is harder to describe than to do. You'll find a system that works for you and if you're going to leave it on a ball it won't even be something you will have to do all that often. Keep up the good work. There is no way I would put in all the work you have before even my first sail! By the way what happens when you get your first scratch in the hull? Just kidding.

 

[JRacer]

LakeShark , I'm still on the trailer in front of my house. The purpose of this exercise is to check everything as I reinstall all of the mast hardware and of course, practice. One critical thing is that I have not installed my halyards yet. I have the Ronstan exit 'slots' (not sheave boxes). I will post pics of those when I install them, but I want the mast up when I decide on their location and mark the positions. They will up high enough from the mast step than you can physically heave on them so eye ball height at minimum but not higher than an average person can reach. Plus, they have to be off-set from each other on either side of the mast. The slots that are drilled and cut are smaller than what you would cut for a double or even single sheave box, and separating them by say 18 inches on the vertical while juxtaposed fore and aft will prevent creating a weak spot in the mast. More on this in following posts.
P.s. I still need to fix my original resto thread by restoring the pics and then posting all of the work I have done in the last few months.

Assuming that you are going to cleat the halyards on the mast, what matters is how high up you should put the cleat. You will want the cleat high enough that the person hand-over-hand pulling the halyard will not get their hand running into the cleat (i.e. put the cleat slightly higher than they can reach). The exit slot should be slightly above that. If you put the cleat lower, the person pulling it up will be fighting to keep from grabbing the cleat on each reach to grab more halyard.
In the pic attached, on the J24, we ran the Spin halyard and jib halyard to cleats on the mast. Spin Halyard was the upper one. That way foredeck crew was not dependent on after crew to raise and lower foresails.

 

[CaptDon01]

My Capri-18 just had offset slots in the mast for the halyards to exit about 5' up from the base. I believe the Capri-22 follow the same method. Smaller slot, no hardware, no screw holes, just a simple slot.

Don

 

[CloudDiver]

This weekend I finished up the mast wiring. I had made the wire loom with Ancor 18 AWG, everything on the mast is LED so I would have used 20 AWG if I could find it. For conduit I used 2 10 ft pieces of grey PVC electrical conduit, size 1/2" which is the ID and it's 3/4" OD. I cut off the union ends and installed them separately leaving a gap right at the spreaders, thats where the deck/steaming high pigtail exits. Long story short, I took pictures of most of it but I'll either write up a separate mast wiring thread or put them in my resto thread when I fix all the pics. Just for giggles, here is shot of how the deck light works after I got the rig back up;

 

[justsomeguy]

Look, a supernova!