Mast stepping process

[tomhengy]

Hello All,

I purchased a Precision 23 this past spring and have been spending a lot of time thinking about ways to simplify raising and lowering the mast. I built a mast crutch which helped in moving the mast fore and aft.

I'm also considering quick release levers for the side stays rather than loosening the turnbuckles.

Does anyone have experience with or comments about the quick release levers or anything else that they've done to make the process easier?

Thanks in advance

 

[Bad Obsession]

Comment on the quick release lever....Don't do it! Maybe on a small sailing dingy, but on a 23 foot boat I think that it could come back to bite you bad!

I do it the hard way for my mast. The one mechanical advantage I use is a wheel on my mast cradle to wheel the mast backwards and into place. I then push it up while someone takes up the slack in the spinnaker halyard. Once it is up I then winch the spinnaker halyard really tight and put my stays on. I then release the halyard and I am done with that part.

Stepping the mast is a pain, but re-rigging is a bigger pain.

 

[Meriachee]

A "bow roller wheel" from your local parts supply house is a great addition to the crutch to facilitate moving the mast. It doesn't even have to be removable, just last the mast to it and you're ready to go.

 

[Tom G P-21]

Hello, congratulations on owning a great boat. Most of the Precision owners have gravitated to the other forum, managed by the same parent company. See the link below, do a search for gin pole. There are also other methods that have been discussed there.You should post your question over there.

http://forum.trailersailor.com/forum.php?id=11

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Be glad to hel;p as I made a couple for the Precision 23 over the years as a former dealer

 

[DAVA390]

Trailer strap over the roller to the jib halyard is a big help to me.

 

[CaptDon01]

The Catalina factory mast raising system allows us to continue our trailer-sailor lifestyle as we got older, and have some physical limitations. Simple, and effortlessly allows me to raise the mast, and engineered by the factory so the system is strong and safe. If a stay snags on something, I can stop the process at any point and clear the problem, then continue raising the mast.

Don

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Is that a Sport 22 Catalina?

 

[peterbud]

View attachment 115740

The Catalina factory mast raising system allows us to continue our trailer-sailor lifestyle as we got older, and have some physical limitations. Simple, and effortlessly allows me to raise the mast, and engineered by the factory so the system is strong and safe. If a stay snags on something, I can stop the process at any point and clear the problem, then continue raising the mast.

Don

Does anyone know if the catalina system pictured can be modified to work on a O'Day 222
I currently raisey mast over the stern. In the past i have had two other people to help but am going to need a simpler method for the future. I do use a mast crutch but might need to make it longer
I lile the fact with the gin pole setup i dont have the moment of terror as the mast goes past 45 degrees

 

[Meriachee]

What is pictured is not specific to any boat at all. It's the same setup on a whole bunch of different ones, and as long as you have a tabernacle that the base of the mast can rotate on, you can make it work. I use exactly the same setup on the 270 and it has a 32' mast.

 

[peterbud]

How do people attach the gin pole to the bottom of the mast. I have a plate at the bottom of the mast with 2 pins. I pull the front pin and pivot the mast back on the rear pin. When mast is down i walk the mast forward.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

So often many forget that not only raising the mast, other things to be considered is stabilizing the mast sideways, safety and so on. The boat is a Sport Catalina 22 with a mast raising option patterned after the Hunter system but with side stays on the mast to attach to the deck so it will not fall sideways. The early Catalina 250 was the same way until changed by using the trailer tongue jack stand that elongated upward using the winch cable to the jib halyard. By the way, the trailer under the Catalina Sport 22 swing keel trailer is the one made by Road King Trailers and will work with any of the former Catalina 22 swing keel and it is a dream of a trailer. Ron Frisosky designed that trailer

The early Hunters had the same system but later went with fixed permanently attached bars to the mast to stabilize the mast sideways.

The key to the mast raising pole is a hole near the base of the mast must be a little larger than the pole itself. The end of the pole must be cut to contour to the back side of the mast to include the ridge inside for the sail slide groove. The attached wires must be sideways in parallel so there is no slack in the cables when the mast goes up or down. Suggest for the wires a t toggle with t toggle base attached to mast and pelican hook on the other end for quick release.

When inserting the pole into the mast, raise it up about 5-10 degrees but MAKE SURE THAT THE POLE WHERE INSERTED INTO THE MAST ONLY TOUCHES THE TOPSIDE OF THE MAST HOLE. IN ADDITION, NEVER PUT YOUR HAND ON THAT POLE TO HELP RAISE OR LOWER OR IT WILL COLLAPSE ON YOU. WHEN RAISING AND YOU FEEL PRESSURE OF THE MAST GOING UP, STOP, LOOK AROUND AND UNSTAG THE SHROUNDS, BACKSTAY OR LINES IF CAUGHT.. BEFORE THE MAST IS ALL THE WAY UP, LOOK AT THE SHROUD CHAIN PLATES TO ENSURE THE TURNBUCKLES ARE NOT TWISTED.

 

[Daveinet]

Quick release levers are OK if used in the correct locations, or if you are paying attention to load ratings. I use quick disconnects on the baby stays, as they do not carry that much load. If they did release, it would not be catastrophic. The side stays are permanently attached, and are never removed.
As far as stepping, the baby stays are moved to an alternate location on the cabin roof, that is in line with the pivot point of the mast step. This holds the mast from swinging back and forth as it is being raised. Also the gin pole cleats to that point as well, so it is held stable. Once the mast is up, the jib halyard is used to hold the mast up, while the forestay is attached. I usually winch the jib halyard, to put some bend in the mast, so I can get the foretay attached. Normally my mast is up and done within the first 15 minutes of arriving near the ramp. I can get the boat from road to the water in a half hour by myself if I really hurry. I have a specific sequence that I go through that is the same every time to minimize steps, and not waste time thinking. (thinking will triple the time it takes)

 

[davisr]

In this article I describe in detail the mast stepping process I use on my Ericson 25.
Roscoe
http://www.ericson25.com/2015/08/sp...cent&utm-medium=gadget&utm_campaign=bp_recent

 

[CaptDon01]

It's been a while since I looked at the site, and so I'll clarify some of the points made.

First, the boat pictured in my post is not a C-22 Sport, it is the C-22 MK-II. Completely different boat in the C-22 line. All the other C-22 versions, including the C-22 Sport, use the same hull. The MK-II is a wider hull. The factory came out with their mast raising system when they introduced the MK-II. The mast has two stainless steel fittings in the sides about 5' up where the T-fittings on the baby stays attach. The other end of the baby stays have pelican hooks, which attach to the top of the turning blocks on the cabin top. The baby stays keep the mast from leaning side to side, not the side stays. The side stays don't take over until the mast is probably 95% raised. The gin-pole assembly simply slides into a hole in the base of the mast. The gin pole has a slight angle designed into the base assemble to aid in the blocks having room when the mast is fully in the up position. There is a fitting inside the mast that stabilizes the gin pole once it's placed into position. I would have to say the only similarity between the Hunter design, and the Catalina-22 MK-II design is that they both use a gin pole to raise the mast.

The Catalina mast raising system makes raising the mast extremely easy, and most importantly, safe. I refurbished a MK-II several years ago and I like to show the new owner how to rig their boat. I had torn the tendons in my right shoulder in a bicycle accident and my right arm was completely useless. With only one arm, I showed the new owner how easy it was to raise and lower the mast on his new boat.

The next issue of the C-22 magazine, the MainBrace, covers the changes made with the introduction of the C-22 MK-II version, including an article on the Catalina factory mast raising system. The November issue will be out the first on November.
Don

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Capt. Don

Thank you for advising your boat was the MK II. The first factory option of the mast raise system for any of the 22's came out with the Sport version which I adapted to many of the MK II as I use to be a dealer. I introduced the Sport version for Catalina at Annapolis years ago. Later that was a factory option for the MKII as both boats used the same mast. This was very similar to the Hunter mast raise system that I designed for the water ballast Hunters.