H260 Mast crutch

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Aug 11, 2006
1,446
Hunter H260 Traverse City
When my H260 was delivered, the rear mast crutch pole had a significant bend in it where the upper crutch hole was at the stern. As a result, the crutch contacts the mast where the shrouds attach to the upper part of the mast. My dealer says this bend in the pole itself is normal. I agree that the way the crutch holes are aligned puts the crutch pole at an angle to the mast, but what is the purpose of the bend in the pole itself? I believe this bend in the pole was caused by the dealer dragging the mast across the crutch causing the bend in the pole. I've added a roller to the crutch and the mast now slides much easier when raising and lowering the mast. I still don't think this bend is intended by Hunter. Any thoughts? How do I get in touch with the proper person at Hunter?
 

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Sam Morgan

Mine is like yours

The crutch on my 260 has the same bend and it contacts the mast at the spreaders. Your are right, it looks like it has been damaged as a reasonable engineer would have done something different.
 
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Jeff Peltier

The ones I've seen

contact the mast just after the spreaders. I suspect yours was bent at some point. Clearly that would make moving the mast up or down less convenient. I would rebend it so you don't have to lift the spreaders over it every time. Jeff Peltier
 
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Mark

Mine is the same.

Staightened it out but that does not work ( because you then have to lift up the mast to get the reverse diagonals over) so re-bent.
 
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Jim

Yep, the same..

The pole on my 2001 H260 has the same bend. A local dealer has a new 260 on his lot and yep, it's the same. Jim
 
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Mike

Its supposed to have the bend.

The bend puts the weight vertically on the base, if no it would probably stress the upper plastic hole too much.
 
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Pat

Crutch bend

My 2001 H-260 has the bend and it allows the mast to move up to the spreaders during raising and lowering of the mast. (Note-add a new larger roller to the crutch to allow easier mast movement.) The bend also allows us to rotate the crutch when we have the bimini on and thus clear the aft side of the bimini. We leave the crutch on during the sailing season in case we need to lower the mast for repairs/inspection etc. and to hold the solar shower bag for use on the transom steps.
 
Mar 21, 2004
2,175
Hunter 356 Cobb Island, MD
Suggestion for crutch catching stays

Check this link for what I did to stop the crutch from catching the stays. I drilled a new hole and moved the roller high. Worked like a charm for the three years I had the boat. http://www.ayesail.net/sailing/SailboatMods/BoatSetup/pages/P1000781.htm Jim S/V Java
 
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George Kobernus

H260 Crutch

Jim: By George that's brilliant! Thanks for the help.
 
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