Thoughts on a rig to raise mast easier

Jerry Zitterkopf · Sep 3, 2016

The Macgregor 26s come with a mast raising system as an option. The Macgregor's mast is 30 feet high and it is a handful raised by hand unless your a pretty young and stout dude or dudess. I can't see why their system could not be adapted to your boat. Check out this link.
http://www.macgregor26.com/mast_raising/mast_raising.htm
I believe they are available through Blue Water Yacht which is the company that among many other services supplies parts and accessories for the Macgregor line of boats. This link should put you in touch with them.
http://www.macgregor26.com/index.html
You may have to copy them and put them into your browser. Hope this helps you out.

Tom G P-21 · Sep 4, 2016

Google gin pole and mast raising system. You'll have to customize it for your boat. Here is a recent discussion on this subject.

http://forum.trailersailor.com/post.php?id=1439804

Tim22 · Sep 4, 2016

The 17 foot Compac SunCat has a great system with a hinged mast. I had one for a few years and it worked really well.

Tim

Crazy Dave Condon · Sep 5, 2016

Luger on their kit boats from what I saw over the years used a variety of mast steps. How about telling us the length of the mast with photos of the rig with mast up, mast step and forestay so others can get an idea of what you have. What is the weight of the mast.

Tim22 · Sep 5, 2016

When I had my Tanzer 22 I kept it at the cottage so had no crane or other means of raising the mast so I borrowed a gin pole type of design from a friend.

The basic was an equilateral triangular structure made of 3 pieces of 1.25 inch galvanized steel pipe. Each piece was about 7 feet long and was joined with through bolts at the corners. One of the through bolts had a ring on it.

To use the arrangement I first put the foot of the mast in the step (hinged with a through bolt) with the top supported and sticking out over the stern. The stays and shrouds were loosely connected to the chain plates to provide lateral stability during the lift. The back stay was also connected to prevent the mast from over shooting the lift.

Next, the gin triangle was laid athwart ship just forward of the mast step and made fast. The triangle was stood up vertically with the ring corner up and the jib halyard was connected to the ring with the other end tied off at the base of the mast. I then connected a block and tackle between the bow chain plate and the ring on the triangle. I led the tail end of the block and tackle line back to the primary winch which I used to crank up the mast.

I found that the triangular structure gave more stability than a gin pole. It is important that the structure not slide around on the deck and that it be able to pivot to flat on the deck when the mast is in the up position. Also, I found that the angling the triangle slightly aft at the start provided extra lifting capacity at the end.

I used this method for about 10 years with no problems until I replaced the Tanzer with the Compac Suncat because of its simple mast raising system. The suncat was a great boat but gave way to the Hunter 310 when we sold the cottage

Hope this helps
Tim

Daveinet · Sep 5, 2016

You need to think through the process from a simplified stand point. Your goal is to require as few steps as possible to set up what ever is needed to raise the mast. Anything that can be used for multiple purposes will save time.

Look at what you have. Do you have baby stays? Where do they connect? Are they inline with the pivot point of the mast? If not, I would suggest installing U-bolts, in a parallel line with the mast step to the top of the cabin. This will keep the mast from falling side to side. You can use the same rings to attach to guy wires to keep the gin pole from falling. Everything should be on some sort of quick disconnect, that doesn't require a pin to secure it. You don't want anything that you can drop and have to get down off the boat to pick up (let alone find where it fell) Second item is to buy a piece of 3 inch PVC pipe. Depending on how your rudder is secured, come up with a way to attach it to the rudder mount, so that it will hold your mast up. Put a small bow wheel on the top of the pipe. Some small vertical brackets will attach the wheel above the pipe. This will allow the mast to sit on the wheel, and then be rolled backward for raising. I would also suggest that for that small of a mast, you should be able to use 3 inch PVC for a gin pole. Cut the bottom, so it slips over the base of the mast and will stay in place.

For the project, don't be afraid to install extra cleats where you need the to keep the mast stable. Raising the mast does not require a lot of force, so its not like you need chain plates for back up the cleats or rings. Menards has stainless U-bolts that work very well. Just use a couple of fender washes on the back side.
BTY: Doing it by myself, it is less than 10 minutes from when I park the boat, till my mast is up. If I have help, it takes a little longer...

Jerry Zitterkopf · Sep 5, 2016

gimpy117 said:
I'm wondering if anyone had made a rig so a mast can be raised single handed. I have a 16 foot luger that just needs the mast put into a socket and lifted to the fore end of the boat and secured with a stay. I'd love some ideas so I can get the boat rigged single handed either to sail lone or ave the boat prepped before friends arrive

I just wanted to correct myself. I address these things too late at night me thinks. I have a Mac 26 M. There are a number of predecessors to it but I do not know how far back (in the series) they used a mast raising system. The rest of the info is correct and I see Tom G P21 has a good reference for you. Good luck.
Z

dscribner · Sep 5, 2016

Not knowing the boat, it seems to me that a 16 footer could be hand stepped fairly easily. That said, our Lancer 25 has a mast section heavier than the Mac 26 shown. We use a similar gin pole setup with a 4:1 purchase pulley setup. It takes less than 16 seconds ( I've timed it) to go from resting to standing. Total time to position, pin the tabernacle, attach the gin pole and temp guys, raise, etc is about 10 minutes.

Crazy Dave Condon · Sep 6, 2016

A lot can be said so far but the original poster has yet to respond to my questions. Dscribner saiit seems to me that a 16 footer could be hand stepped fairly easilyd it best," As a former dealer who designed mast raise systems for manufacturers, I also knew the Luger boats and the mast on any small boat of that size should be fairly easy to raise as I am a little familiar with that company and somewhat to the 16. It could be a replacement heavier mast, medical issues, or what ever is causing the poster to ask that question. Until we know the facts, it would be hard to help him until he responds with more information and a photo would of course certainly help here.

Justin_NSA · Sep 6, 2016

A mast system is a wise investment in both personal and boat safety. Think in terms of triangles. It's pretty well covered here.

Daveinet · Sep 6, 2016

As simple as hand stepping a mast on a small boat should be very easy, a couple of things I ran into when stepping the mast on my 17 footer. One problem was the support in the rear was forward of the balance point on the mast. That mean the mast had to be held into the step, or it would flip up and fall on the ground behind the boat. I eventually rigged a post in the back that was attached to the rudder that would support the top of the mast a little farther back, so the mast would not tip backward. The second thing I did was clip the jib halyard to the bow, so once the mast was up, I could pull that tight and cleat it down, so the mast would not fall while I attached the forstay. Those two things helped quite a bit. One of the other difficulties is steppng up onto the cabin top, while still holding the mast and not loosing your balance.

dzl · Sep 7, 2016

Well, I've posted this several times in the last little bit, so at the risk of being overbearing I'll post it again.

I use my mainsheet tackle attached to the aft hole in the stem fitting and to the forestay above the turnbuckle. With the cleat side down the lead angle on the line allows it to cleat automatically once you start pulling it up. Once the mast is up, it stays with the cleated line holding it in place so you can then attach the turnbuckle to the front hole in the stem fitting. You could also use a halyard instead of the forestay. I got a video of me raising my mast using this method. It's poor quality, but you can get the idea. (My camera focused on the clothesline instead of the boat)