Mast lowering & raising

[P.F.Johanson]

About ½ mile from our dock there is a bridge with only 18’ of clearance. I am interested in buying a used 20 to 26 foot day sailor, that one person could raise the mast on the way out and then lower it on the way back. Any suggestions on which boat & mast hoisting system would work best under these conditions?

 

[Rick Webb]

Many,

in particular a 23.5, a 240, a 26, or a 260 Hunter come to mind

 

[Mark Cooper]

The 240

The 240 has a great mast raising system that allows one person to raise the mast with no problems. Further, it's a pretty controlled system that makes doing it on the water pretty easy too. I presume the 260 utilizes the same system.

 

[Ken Shubert]

Ups and Downs

Any of the Hunters ... H23.5, H240, H26, H260 will do the job just fine. It certainly would be better to have 2 people to handle this task. You'd probably want to anchor somewhere to do the stepping. Be sure to have extra hardware on board. It's VERY easy to drop cotter rings, yokes, pins, and such overboard when stepping on a floating boat. With these WB boats you can pull the keel-board and rudder up and motor into some very shallow water too. Matter of fact, you can beach them on a nice sandy beach right beside the power boats... Cool! KenS/V Wouff Hong

 

[Tom Hultberg]

26 is easy

I just bought a 1997 H26 and the mast up and down is easy to use by ones self. Hunter has mad a safe unit that you can do alone if need be. I have done it on and off the water. I also like the trailerability of the 26.Good luck.