So many questions - 24ft Laguna Windrose

[SailingLoto]

ok, great idea. I can see the mechanical advantage in this, even if slightly over complicated.

I am 40 and rather spry for my age, but I do this whole operation single handed with my main sheet, an auto body panel stand, a ratchet strap and a bit of rope....

strap goes around the mast about 8ft up (as high as I can reach, eyeball it when mast is down) panel stand holds the mast in the cockpit slightly over center(higher than step) , mainsheet fully extended goes from bow rail to the strap on the mast ( pulling on bow rail is higher than mast, so now mast is over center slightly and we have a bit of up pull from the sheet pulling off the rail. Thus closing the angle to less than 180 degrees.) I tie a line to the end of the main sheet to extend it. I stand in the cockpit, and give the mast a boost up as I pull on the mainsheet to bring the mast up. If you do this with the boat pointing downhill it is super easy and the mast will hold it's self forward when fully up.

If you keep your step pivot bolt slightly snug it helps control side to side movement until your stays take over.

This is how I do it on my sc22 and I have stepped my Laguna 26 the same way.

While I see the advantage to your design, I don't know that it would be much more efficient. I can see how it would give greater control lowering the mast as things happen quickly going down and the mast and mainsheet angle get close to the same. Rope stretch becomes very apparent at that point.

 

[SailingLoto]

i apologize. i didn't realize I had already responded to this post months ago. sorry for the redundant information on my method.

I will be trying your method or similar on an S2 this spring

 

[Nunyadamn]

What is the purpose of the extra winch on the gin pole? Why wouldn't you just clip your main sheet and fiddle blocks between the forestay and the bow cleat directly. There is enough leverage gain in the main sheet to easily lift the mast. You can also cleat it incase you need to stop part way up and untangle a line. Once the mast is up, use the jib sheet to keep it upright so one can clip the forestay to the bow cleat.
The other thing I've sen done is use the boat winch on the trailer tong to lift the mast. That is a little more cumbersome, but at least it doesn't add weight to the gin pole.
Wood seems a bit heavy to use for a gin pole. I'd probably buy something like this for 20 bucks:

Amazon.com: 8121, Aluminum Structural Tube 1.5" x 3" x 0.125" x 48" Long : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: 8121, Aluminum Structural Tube 1.5" x 3" x 0.125" x 48" Long : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

This is very similar in size and thickness to the boom section that I use to lift my mast. My mast was 27 ft, so it should be similar weight to what yours is. I just like to keep things light weight because I can work much faster. When its 95 degrees out, I want to take as little effort as possible to setup the boat. Using the main sheet to raise the mast also means less stress on the gin pole, so it does not need to be super heavy.
[/QUOT
I will look at that first part more - when I started this,

What is the purpose of the extra winch on the gin pole? Why wouldn't you just clip your main sheet and fiddle blocks between the forestay and the bow cleat directly. There is enough leverage gain in the main sheet to easily lift the mast. You can also cleat it incase you need to stop part way up and untangle a line. Once the mast is up, use the jib sheet to keep it upright so one can clip the forestay to the bow cleat.
The other thing I've sen done is use the boat winch on the trailer tong to lift the mast. That is a little more cumbersome, but at least it doesn't add weight to the gin pole.
Wood seems a bit heavy to use for a gin pole. I'd probably buy something like this for 20 bucks:

Amazon.com: 8121, Aluminum Structural Tube 1.5" x 3" x 0.125" x 48" Long : Industrial & Scientific

Amazon.com: 8121, Aluminum Structural Tube 1.5" x 3" x 0.125" x 48" Long : Industrial & Scientific

www.amazon.com

This is very similar in size and thickness to the boom section that I use to lift my mast. My mast was 27 ft, so it should be similar weight to what yours is. I just like to keep things light weight because I can work much faster. When its 95 degrees out, I want to take as little effort as possible to setup the boat. Using the main sheet to raise the mast also means less stress on the gin pole, so it does not need to be super heavy.

I am going to look at it more. When I started putting this together, I had nothing to go off of other than youtube and the internet. The gin pole works good, but it is heavier than I would like. I was worried there would be too much pull on the bow cleat to pull the mast up. My problem is there is no tilting mast base like I see on other boats - just the one bolt type. So mine just has to pull it up really hard to slide the mast on the base. It seems like a lot of force is needed until about 1/2 way and then it is fairly easy. Thanks for the tip on the aluminum. I really just wanted to make sure the whole thing worked and then make it out of something light weight like that aluminum.

 

[Daveinet]

It also looks like you may want to try to get your gin pole down close to the pivot point at the base of the mast. This will improve your leverage point. I would look into putting a U-bolt permanently attached to the base of the mast. Put the threaded end toward the bow. (when mast is upright) Usually the U-bolt will have a plate on the other side. Drill the plate and put a bolt through it facing away from the mast. This bolt will give you a pin that you can slip the aluminum gin pole over. If you notice on my photos, my gin pole just slips over the plate. Nothing holds it in place. The pole is held in place with guy wires to the cabin top. So just slipping the aluminum pole over the bolt should be fine.