keel stepped mast, self sufficient crane
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I have not but this spring I saw something very cool. My slip neighbor stepped his mast in the water. He pulled up along side another sailboat at the end of the pier and rafted up. Then a third sailboat pulled up beside him and they rafted up. The boat needing the mast stepped was in the middle. The other two boats tied their main halyards to the mast of the middle boat and lifted it up with their winches while he stepped the mast and secured the stays. I wish I had filmed it. It was shockingly easy and smooth.
Is this something you want to do regularly, or is it a one-time thing? For the former, I think it's impractical. It might be better to cut the mast and convert it to deck-stepped, with a hinged step.
That would require some careful engineering as well as lower the resale value of the boat.
we use a gin pole, with block and tackle, to raise and lower the mast , that is keelson stepped, on our 38' Ascow every time we go sailing. the mast is prolly 44' long. no big deal
jviss, sounds like an extensive project for a performance loss....Spring and Fall commissioning, I have secured a storage unit and now if I can forego the semi and crane rental 2x/yr, well that should reduce cost of ownership, and allow for boat projects not rental fees
Search for how to jury rig masts after a dismasting, I"m sure you can find some creative ways to step the mast.
Weight is going to be more of an issue than length. Will you be able to easily control the mast when it is no longer stepped.
If you can find an old mast that is a little longer than the height of the mast's center of gravity, it can be rigged on the fore deck and used as a gin pole. The same can be done with an A-frame. It will take some time to set it up and it may not be worth it in the end.
A better solution might be to have a group of boaters split the crane rental cost. Or find a marina that has a crane or gin pole on site.
Weight is going to be more of an issue than length. Will you be able to easily control the mast when it is no longer stepped.
If you can find an old mast that is a little longer than the height of the mast's center of gravity, it can be rigged on the fore deck and used as a gin pole. The same can be done with an A-frame. It will take some time to set it up and it may not be worth it in the end.
A better solution might be to have a group of boaters split the crane rental cost. Or find a marina that has a crane or gin pole on site.
we have it down. to raise the gin pole, hoist the mast, tune the rig, put the mainsail on, to under 30 minutes with a crew of 4. our gin pole, like dave mentioned, is 30' section of an old disguarded mast. free to us.
How many people would be involved in this?
What are you willing to spend on gear to make a mast-raising system?
Do you have a place to store the mast raising gear?
Is the mast to be raised while the boat's in the water, or on a trailer?
What's the position of the mast when you start to raise it, I mean, does it have to be carried into position?
I'm sure it can be done. The trick here is that you have to get that mast almost perfectly vertical and then lower it, straight and carefully, about 5', all while it's not supported by the regular standing rigging. And, while it's being lowered, you can't necessarily support it from the bottom of the mast, as that has to pass through the deck collar.
This mast is about 41' (unless you have the tall rig option, which is 2' longer). There are no spreaders, so no convenient place to prop-up the mast.
You could construct some kind of an "A" frame and gin pole, but the big issue is going to be lowering it carefully into the boat.
This is true regardless of whether a crane is pulling the mast or a gin pole on deck. The pick is at the center of gravity and then a line is run to a secure point towards the base of the mast, either the goose neck fitting or the vang fitting. As the mast is lifted and turned vertical the weight is picked by the base and the line at the CG controls the middle of the mast and serves as a pivot point.
No there are spreaders, but don't lift by the spreaders. The spreaders are designed to take compression loads from the rigging, not vertical loads as would be the case if the mast was lifted by the spreaders. The CG is typically a few feet above the spreaders on a keel stepped mast.
Use the primary winches. Lower the mast the same way you lower someone down in a bosun's chair, slowly with good control. For a heavy mast, using 2 lifting lines lead back to the P and S primary winches is probably a better idea.
If you want to see a really dicey way of lowering a mast, take a look at the video, the actual mast lowering begins at about the 10 minute mark.
Ah, yes, correct you are.
I watched the video from the 10 minute mark, they were pulling the mast with a crane. How is this apropos?
My hard puts a sling around the mast under the spreaders to pick it up and put it in. No damage, ever.
They were pulling the mast with an undersized crane. The gin pole on the Travellift is designed to pick masts when the boat in the water. This boat was on the hard. They had to get it high enough and under control. It was the under control part that was a challenge because the mast was picked below the CG so it would be top heavy. As soon as it came out of the partners it would want to flip and crash on the deck.
Awesome feedback so far group:
JViss, I currently have a crane and truck company that hauls and steps the mast. But that is costly, so what I spend to create a system should be commesurate with the savings I would expect, about $1400/season if I can get a way to step the mast AND haul the 8klbs to my storage unit (<2mi away).
The boat is launched on it's cradle, a trailer lifts the cradle and then backs it into the water. Seems crazy doesn't it? But that got me thinking that a self-sufficient option may be available.
So depending on what I come up with it would seem out of water is a better option for stability of the system. The mast is <200lbs, and lifting just below the spreaders seems to work well for balance.
I estimate 6ft lift should meet needs. The mast needs to tip top aft due to furler extrusions.
And the vid, those two are so happy, I haven't seen that episode yet, but have watched others. I think they will have lots of SURPRISES in store for them.
JViss, I currently have a crane and truck company that hauls and steps the mast. But that is costly, so what I spend to create a system should be commesurate with the savings I would expect, about $1400/season if I can get a way to step the mast AND haul the 8klbs to my storage unit (<2mi away).
The boat is launched on it's cradle, a trailer lifts the cradle and then backs it into the water. Seems crazy doesn't it? But that got me thinking that a self-sufficient option may be available.
So depending on what I come up with it would seem out of water is a better option for stability of the system. The mast is <200lbs, and lifting just below the spreaders seems to work well for balance.
I estimate 6ft lift should meet needs. The mast needs to tip top aft due to furler extrusions.
And the vid, those two are so happy, I haven't seen that episode yet, but have watched others. I think they will have lots of SURPRISES in store for them.
Sounds like a good excuse to buy a pickup truck with a larger towing capacity.
The $1400 seems like a lot for your boat if it doesn't include winter storage. That is about or a little more than what I pay for winter storage, unstep/step mast and haulout/launch. And my boat is a bit bigger.
If I was in your position I'd be inclined to shop around for other marinas.
Consider an A-crane. It is slightly taller than the COG of the mast; thus, it can raise the mast to a vertical position while nearly balanced. It is mounted above the center point of the mast step plate, transverse of the mast. It is anchored to the deck and stayed fore and aft. It lifts the mast slightly above the COG, so the base naturally falls to the deck, but just barely. It uses a block and tackle to haul the mast upward. Once the mast reaches the apex, it will stand vertically, and the base is ready to be stepped. On a keel-stepped rig, you would line it up and lower the mast down the slot.