Can you climb the mast on a Hunter 26?

[DeliriousSailor]

We need to remove our jib and do rerigging of the main and a few other upgrades and maintenance things. We're curious, can you climb the mast of a Hunter 26? Our slip neighbor who owns a larger Hunter said no because it's a trailerable boat and the mast comes down easily so it's not safe to climb. He recommends lowering the mast to do any work. Problem is, the jib rigging is totally baffling and we cannot get the jib down. We're in a pickle and need to cut the halyard at the top of the mast to get the jib down.

 

[Justin_NSA]

Couldn't you disconnect the jib at the tack and lower the mast. Then sort out the problem?
The H26 is water ballast so going up would be spooky. It's a lightweight mast too.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

Couldn't you disconnect the jib at the tack and lower the mast. Then sort out the problem?
The H26 is water ballast so going up would be spooky. It's a lightweight mast too.

No.. This is a new to us boat and of course we're finding all the goofy things as we go along. A tear in the jib necessitates removal and nothing we did allowed it to be lowered. We even had the assistance of an experience Hunter owner and he couldn't help us get it down.

We have a self furling jib.

 

[Justin_NSA]

You ought to be able to disconnect the furler at the base and lower the mast. I've done it on my water ballast Mac26S

 

[shemandr]

Where is the tail of that jib halyard?

 

[twalker H260]

It is likely a cdi flexible furler. Manual of the ff2 that is on many h26 & 260’s available here

https://www.sailrite.com/PDF/FF2-Online-Manual.pdf

If it really has jammed then I would lower the mast. - a fairly straight forward process and doesn’t take long - less time than would be required to stabilise the boat to allow someone to go aloft.

Some directions from Crazy Dave. Who developed the mast raising system for the water ballast hunters:

https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_19_93-96_77580257.pdf

Additional info is available in the owners manual available in the boat info link in the menus at the top of the page. I think some YouTube videos are also a available of the process.

Biggest thing on the 26 I believe is to remember to attach the baby stays before lowering or raising.

You can likely talk to Dave directly as well to
Talk you through some of this.
@Crazy Dave Condon

 

[justsomeguy]

It is likely a cdi flexible furler.

First thing I thought, too.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

It is likely a cdi flexible furler. Manual of the ff2 that is on many h26 & 260’s available here

https://www.sailrite.com/PDF/FF2-Online-Manual.pdf

If it really has jammed then I would lower the mast. - a fairly straight forward process and doesn’t take long - less time than would be required to stabilise the boat to allow someone to go aloft.

Some directions from Crazy Dave. Who developed the mast raising system for the water ballast hunters:

https://sbo.sailboatowners.com/downloads/Hunter_19_93-96_77580257.pdf

Additional info is available in the owners manual available in the boat info link in the menus at the top of the page. I think some YouTube videos are also a available of the process.

Biggest thing on the 26 I believe is to remember to attach the baby stays before lowering or raising.

You can likely talk to Dave directly as well to
Talk you through some of this.
@Crazy Dave Condon

We've spoken to Dave several times.. He is so helpful. No way to thank him enough for his assistance. We have his cell number.

In the mean time.. We'll research your suggestions.

 

[twalker H260]

If you post photos of what you have and where the problem is occurring we may be able to give further advice/suggestions.

 

[DeliriousSailor]

If you post photos of what you have and where the problem is occurring we may be able to give further advice/suggestions.

It was a long day yesterday and I didn't get any photos. I will and post them. We decided to unstep the mast, do some re-rigging and install a lazy jack system. This should resolve the issue with the stuck jib.

 

[twalker H260]

If it is a cdi furler you do need to clean out the black top piece of it occasionally to allow the integral halyard to move easily. A year or two ago ours had accumulated enough dust and debris that we couldn’t hoist the jib until it was washed out. They now have a replacement top with an actual sheave for minimal cost.(I had initially believed the difficulty hoisting and lowering was due to a dirty track - I was incorrect!)

 

[Thaniel]

Problem is, the jib rigging is totally baffling and we cannot get the jib down.

To lower the mast the instructions are to use the Job Halyard. Not sure how that plays into your plans. However I did lower my mast once using a ropes tied to the main halyard (one on each side) and then to the mast raising pole (raised the main halyard and the ropes tied to it to about the same location as where the jib halyard exits the mast). Good luck on whatever you do.

Once you get it sorted, yes raising and lowering is not a big deal and only takes a few min.

 

[Whatfiero1]

So if you empty your ballast tanks secure everything in the cabin and have a couple of large guys to pull your haylard over into possibly and empty slip besides yours. A 3000lb boat pulled over with a 30' mast is like 100lbs

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Sent a private message. I designed that mast raise system for hunter.along with other things. Also a former dealer