Lowering mast On Mac 25

May 20, 2015
11
MacGregor 25 Cleveland
Does anyone have a step by step for lowering the mast I have an 86 mac 25.
 
Jun 25, 2016
65
Venture 21 Minter Bay
Did you carefully select that fence post length to match or be shorter than the distance to the foredeck cleat...or maybe some % of the mast length? One might think lowering the mast with the gin pole rig might be more scarry than raising it. Do you just set the winch line so the gin pole is parallel to the deck, disconnect the forestay & furler and give the mast a bit of a push toward the stern & waiting crutch?
Thanks for sharing your approach/gin pole design.
 
Feb 20, 2011
7,990
Island Packet 35 Tucson, AZ/San Carlos, MX
Did you carefully select that fence post length to match or be shorter than the distance to the foredeck cleat...or maybe some % of the mast length?
Ideally the pole would equal the distance to the foredeck turning point. I know this because when I built the system slightly short, the resulting force (when mast up) tended to pull the pole away from the mast.
It was as high as I could easily reach when the mast was down. ;)
Do you just set the winch line so the gin pole is parallel to the deck, disconnect the forestay & furler and give the mast a bit of a push toward the stern & waiting crutch?
Sorta. After tightening the winch line I would adjust the spin halyard's tension. When on the trailer, the Mac has a nose-down attitude that has to be overcome, so yep, when lowering, I had to slacken the winch some and push the mast back past it's tipping point.
Good luck!
 
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Sep 25, 2008
957
Macgregor & Island Packet VENTURE 25 & IP-38 NORTH EAST, MD
My wife and I raise and lower the mast by hand (Iwo Jima style). To lower, take sail off, boom off, and all running rigging. I take off the rudder and have a long mast crutch that goes in it's place. Wife stays at mast, pushing forward (upper shrouds and back stay will keep mast from falling forward) and I remove the forestay pin, then go back to mast. We then lower it together into the crutch. It's not that heavy. Important to keep it straight as possible, coming down and going up.