Raising the Mast on a Hunter 23.5 - Looking for Advice

[isaksp00]

Raise it very carefully the first time. Your pole pivots on its own hinge, as it is not attached to the mast directly, so the geometry will change a bit as the mast tilts up or down. Just watch that and pay attention to the halyard tension (attached to the top of the pole end) and the lifting line tension on its lower end.

Also, hard to judge, but the pole looks pretty long - when along the deck, does the forward end fit inside the forestay?

 

[CrispyCringle]

I recently bought a 23.5 and need to pull it out of the water for winter in the next few weeks. The previous owner didnt need to raise/lower the mast since he could leave the mast up for dry storage, so they were not much help on info for the lowering process. I will be trailering her to her new home a few hours away. Anyway, Evan709's notes are a huge help in providing some missing details to this mast system. For instance, the side bridles: I wasnt sure where they attached to the mast. I will need to improvise these as they have been lost at some point in the past. Also, the rigging/derigging notes are a great help. Thanks!

This forum has been a great resource for finding bits of info needed to fix and improve my new boat. Thanks all. I hope to be able to help out others in the future.

 

[evan709]

Hi Crispy,

Glad my notes were a help. I shared them before I had actually used them to raise the mast. I did that this spring and it went smoother than I expected. I haven't lowered the mast yet, but I expect it should work just as well. I continue to add to my custom "owner's manual" so I'm happy to share the current version. It's too big to post here so e-mail me at evanmcd709 (at) gmail.com and I'll send you a link.

Evan

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Reefing;
no matter which hunter water ballast boat with my mast raise system, make sure that you never pull or push on that pole while raising or lowering the mast or the pole will collapse and you will loose the mast.
Evan709
never got the photos but the babystays should have a little play as sometimes the stanchion might be off a little and either going down or up if not exactly side by side the mast it will either tighten or too slack

 

[CrispyCringle]

Reefing;
no matter which hunter water ballast boat with my mast raise system, make sure that you never pull or push on that pole while raising or lowering the mast or the pole will collapse and you will loose the mast.
Evan709
never got the photos but the babystays should have a little play as sometimes the stanchion might be off a little and either going down or up if not exactly side by side the mast it will either tighten or too slack

Thats good info Crazy Dave. Let me ask you this: I was thinking of using two cargo ratchet straps that have about 1.25" straps, along with an s-hook to go in the mast holes for the side bridles. They stretch a small amount, but are easy to use and are rated at 1000 lbs. I wouldnt think the side loads would be that great as long as the hull is level and the mast doesnt start tipping to begin with.

Or I could make some bridles out of steel cable. A little more hassle and cost since I already have the cargo straps and hooks.

 

[evan709]

I made my own bridles out of steel cable with hooks and clips on the ends. Pulled the length from the owner's manual. You can see pictures of what I did in the full guide. Here's a link to the guide in Google Doc form so you're welcome to comment and add info. I will keep it up to date and republish.

Evan

 

[CrispyCringle]

Just a follow-up. I pulled her out of the water for the winter and dropped the mast yesterday. Kind of a non-event after all the thought I put into it. The ratchet straps worked great. I had to buy an s-hook to attach them to the mast. The amount of force needed on the main sheet pulley set-up as the mast went down was very light. I was surprised. About like adjusting the sail in a light wind. The thing that took all the time was de-rigging the main and roller jib.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

crispycringle;
The only issue with the straps is I have not seen a photo of your strap set up as I cannot comment until I do so. I forget which either in the up or down position that the bridles wires shorten up. The reason why I like the replacement bridle wires offered by the store, it comes in the appropriate hook for the mast and I assume adjustment with a turnbuckle to lengthen or shorten to properly adjust. You do have to be careful that when attaching to the eyelet on the side stanchions of the 23.5 that going up or down the hook goes up and down without bending in the eyelet as the original bridal wires went in a certain way to avoid that. Just look at that. However a photo of what you did would be most helpful on your set up to stabilize the mast going up and down. Thanks.

 

[GGordonWoody]

No need to re-invent the wheel !

Ha! Concur. But I confess, I did same (just not to this fine level of detail - amazing). Daunting first time, and re-writing helps to break down and memorize the drill. Predict next year Evan won't even need a manual, but his work might help calm a few new nervous H23.5 ship owners...

 

[Gary Nichols]

Best advice is to buy a boat with this system. It's the easiest I've ever used and perfect for one person. Just have to watch the shrouds as it goes up cuz the toggles can get stuck. Thanks Crazy Dave - I'm impressed!

 

[kermitgirl]

Mast raising (and lowering) is surprisingly simple. When raising, I organize and position the shrouds and lightly tape the shrouds to the lifelines using painters tape. This assists in maintaining position and minimizes the chances of misalignment. Crazy Dave, you designed a great system. I LOVE my boat.

 

[Kermit]

Hey @kermitgirl, let me be the first to recognize your very first post. And we may as well recognize the elephant in the room. Let the ragging begin. (We may as well enjoy it. It's gonna happen whether we like it or not.)

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Kermitgirl;
Photo please. I had to endure a day with the green old ugly Kermit frog on Wednesday changing out the centerboard line. Yep he thought it would be easy but it wasn't. We love to pick on Kermit but kermitgirl, we will keep it at a minimum. Let the big old green frog named Kermit keep a croakin.

 

[Kermit]

Kermitgirl;
Photo please. I had to endure a day with the green old ugly Kermit frog on Wednesday changing out the centerboard line. Yep he thought it would be easy but it wasn't. We love to pick on Kermit but kermitgirl, we will keep it at a minimum. Let the big old green frog named Kermit keep a croakin.

Dave is the handsome one.

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

The handsome one on the right is Kermit out of his green suit while the old fart on the left or the uglier of the two is Crazy Dave. I love to plow the below photo taken last winter

 

[Jen G]

Hi guys - so...
I spent the last five or six days washing, waxing, prepping... you name it so that I could get her into the water this weekend... which ended with me in tears, my marriage in flames and my beloved Hunter 23.5 sitting in my driveway without so much as having successfully raised her mast

HELP!!! I have watched every video, read every manual, set of notes or directions, studied every photo... I could find and am clearly doing it wrong!!! I have a couple videos of my set up which I will try to add to this post if anyone is inclined to look over what I have going on and help diagnose my situation. The video link

BTW - the jib halyard is just laying there in the video (no longer cleated) because after trying it cleated and discovering that it didn't keep any tension on the line, I tried wrapping it around the winch to pull both lines simultaneously while lifting the mast with my shoulder only to fail miserably! The gin pole doesn't stay at the 10° aft angle no matter what I try. And the mast just doesn't lift. What am I doing wrong?!?! You guys make it look so easy! I'm not a total wimp - I grew up on a horse farm, I've handled stallions easier than this!

 

[GBGraham]

I'm definitely a newby to all this mast raising stuff, I have only done this once but your gin pole looks to be wrong, I believe it should lean to the top of the mast, your video looks visa versa. I am sure some one with great expertise will come along with some help.
10/10 for the video, it's a great shame Hunter or any one else with the experience didn't do one to show the correct procedure, "A Picture Paints A Thousand Words" I think we are all capable but some of us just need to see the raising/lowering for confidence.

 

[Kermit]

@Crazy Dave Condon and others will help you. Once you figure it out it’ll work just fine. Seriously. And stallions? We’ve got plenty to come to your rescue.

 

[caverun]

My only thought is whether the gin pole is fully seated in the mast hole? It should not be able to change angle so much. But the attachment is different on my 240 (pole attaches to mast base, no hole in mast), so not an expert on the 23.5.

 

[BrianW]

Jen G, I’m not entirely clear in how you are tensioning the jib halyard, so please excuse me if I’m presuming incorrectly. So here goes: pull on the end of the jib halyard until the mast raising pole is angled aft. Add slight tension on the main sheet system. Again tighten the jib halyard. With the jib halyard in one hand, and the main sheet in the other hand under arm tension, pull the jib halyard until the mast rising pole is angled about 15 degrees aft. Play tug of war between the main sheet and the jib halyard, with the jib halyard winning, resulting in the aft angle on the mast raising pole. Make sure you have tension on both. Under this tension, securely cleat the jib halyard. The mast raising pole should maintain this aft angle. If not, again tighten the jib halyard and cleat it. Unless you are getting stretch on your jib halyard, under tension, you should maintain this mast raising pole angle for the whole mast lift.