Sorry Rick I Couldn't Stand to Rewrite This
So I am cutting and pasting an earlier response at the Yahoo O'Day club forum. Also if you go to the posts in the Daysailor section of odayowners forum, take a look at Ben Allens' post on this subject, and his very interesting link to an Catalina 25 mast raising/lowering system. I'm thinking of building this system this weekend, as the mast is coming down too. I have the O'Day system, but I think Bens' system may prove superior. Access the O'Day system schematic at the picture section of the Yahoo O'Day club ( you have to join to see them): "Jeff, it is very doable with one other person. Actually you can either drop the mast by just muscle (have done it with 2 people but 3 is better) or set up a "gin pole" arrangement, using the boom as the leverage arm. Actually go to the pix section on this page and you will see a schematic for how this is set up. I have been using this technique for a few years now. It helps to have at least one other person to help guide it down and avoid any line hang-ups. The biggest hassle is trying to keep the boom from flopping over sideways as it comes down but you can tie the boom off to a stanchion top using rope. Perhaps over the winter you can have your rigger make up the proper shrouds and triangular plates you will see in the schematic. This allows the pivot point for all the tension in the rig to be centred at the hinge pin. Anyways you have a couple of choices for this year. If you decide to drop it by muscle, you can drop it forward or backward. Have a third person hold the forstay or backstay with a line attached to it as extra resistance as it is lowered. At a certain point its all in the hands of the 2 people lowering, hand over hand as they walk forward or backward with the mast. The mast weighs about 70 lbs and there can be this impending feeling of doom as gravity begins to take over, but 2 or 3 sets of arms can do this easily. I prefer to drop it walking forward as you don't have to deal with the uneveness of the cockpit. Its a straight walk forward. I have dropped it on the water and on the trailor. Learning to do this by yourself can be very rewarding, however if because of physical limitations or those extra hands are not around when you pull the boat, by all means let the yard do the work." Don
