Stepping a Mast on an Oday 26

[cadams]

I recently bought an Oday 26. I haven't put the mast up yet. It looks pretty straight forward. I've read the manual, watched videos, read about it, etc., etc.

The Oday 26 manual says to start the the mast forward (and the forestay attached). Then you are to hinge it aft as you raise it.

Based on mast location, it seems to me that I would want to start with it laying aft (with the backstay attached) and then hinge it forward, followed by attaching the forestay. Comments?

Also, some sources recommend to use various winch systems, and/or stabilization with brackets, etc. However, the mast isn't really that heavy, so just lifting it manually makes most sense to me.

I would be grateful to hear from you Oday 26 owners how you all do it.

Thanks, Craig

 

[RichBone]

Here's an earlier post- http://forums.oday.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=112368

I used my trailer winch but you can also run the line back to your primary winch.

Rich

 

[Joe11688]

Two of our club members own an O'Day 25 and 26, and both raise their masts from the bow using the boom for a Gin Pole. They both have furlers on their boats, so there's no way that they can raise or lower the masts with the fore stay connected. Ray has the triangular plates on his stays for the boom pivot bridles on his OD 26, but Jeff's OD 25 doesn't have these plates. He just hooks his boom bridles into the top of each of his turnbuckles, and this works for him. So if you don't have the plates and you want to raise/lower from the bow, I guess it can be done with or without the plates. Myself, I prefer to raise/lower the mast from aft, because with a mast crutch in the stern to hold the mast while you pin it, the mast is pretty manageable if you're by yourself doing it. I've noticed that the mast is top heavy when you do it from the bow, which is no big deal to some guys who do it that way. One of our newest club members with an OD 25 used a crutch that he made for the bed of his pickup truck, and this worked out OK for him. At any rate, you need a crutch for the stern which can be attached to your stern rail. I installed a small roller in mine, which is a must. Then you need a Gin Pole to attach to the front of the mast. Some guys make them out of wood and use a small boat winch attached to it. I have one that my son made for me out of 1" stainless steel, it comes apart in two pieces for easy stowing, and I use my boom vang for raising/lowering instead of the boat winch. I'm also using "baby stays" that I made up, which gives the mast more stability as it goes up and down. Regardless of which way you do it, you need to have the wind coming from aft if raising from aft, or from forward if raising from the bow. Also, the boat needs to be level when you do it, and that's about it in a nut shell. Check my photo album on this site for pics.
Joe