Windex removal for trailering?

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Tsatzsue

Tsatzsue

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May 16, 2011
555
Macgregor V-25 Charlton, MA- Trailer
Windex

I just bought one and was pondering this very thing. At $40.00 I am going to remove it. Phyrexii, what do you use for a mast crutch? My boat did not come with one and my PVC creation is a disaster. I'm looking for simple, PS: I have no rear railing that I see on some posts.
 
Tsatzsue

Tsatzsue

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May 16, 2011
555
Macgregor V-25 Charlton, MA- Trailer
Phyrexii, I was just pondering the same thing. I just bought one and am going to install it this weekend. At $40 I'm going to take it off. This boat seems to gobble money avery time I turn around. BTW, what do you have for a mast crutch. Your boat is the same vintage as mine. My boat did not have one when I got it. No brackets or anything. I have no rear railings. Just the transone. I hate to drill brackets into it but will if this is the best method. Sorry to go off track.
 
Phyrexii

Phyrexii

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Sep 4, 2010
115
MacGregor Venture 25 Ocean Grove, Swansea MA
Tsatzsue said:
Phyrexii, I was just pondering the same thing. I just bought one and am going to install it this weekend. At $40 I'm going to take it off. This boat seems to gobble money avery time I turn around. BTW, what do you have for a mast crutch. Your boat is the same vintage as mine. My boat did not have one when I got it. No brackets or anything. I have no rear railings. Just the transone. I hate to drill brackets into it but will if this is the best method. Sorry to go off track.
Click to expand
:naughty::naughty::naughty: :hijacked: :D:D:D

This is the mast crutch that came with the boat. It's very simple, consisting of a piece of square steel tubing (round would be ok), with two tabs welded to it in the same location as the rudder gudgeons. Two half-inch bolts take the place of pintles, and it simply drops in where the rudder would be. At the top, there was a 'V' made of flat 3/16 thick steel that matched the 'V' profile of the mast. I modified it into a "U" shape, and mounted a roller for the mast to roll on. I also welded the bolts to the support, to make it easier to take on and off (I only had to deal with the nuts ;))

However, in the interest of reducing steps at the ramp, this spring I permanently mounted an A frame to the transom that hinges back to act as point to tie a dingy from (to keep it off the rudder / motor). This eliminates the need to remove the mast crutch after raising the mast. Again, I know it's not much, but it probably saves 5 minutes from the setup / breakdown (raise the mast, climb off the boat, unbolt the mast crutch, stow it in the van, climb back on the boat, get the rudder out, etc).
I'll post pictures later (I don't have any yet).

I reposted this to this thread: http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?p=907198#post907198
 

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arknoah

arknoah

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May 12, 2010
237
Macgregor 25 Southern Maryland
Stan Breaux said:
I would vote for removing it.

If yours is like mine, then look at how those little squares are attached to the metal frame. They are barely glued on. With the mast down, everythign will be against the wind instead of into the wind, and I doubt it will survive well.
Click to expand
I used to have the devil of a time with my little racing sailboat preventing damage to the wndex. Eventually, it got killed. I would suggest removing it as well.
 
SeaTR

SeaTR

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Jan 24, 2009
408
Hunter 22 Groton
My vote: Remove your wind indicator every time..I use mine consistently when sailing, and would not want to lose ANOTHER one again. I've used the Windex 10 on my Paceship 16, and have the Windex 15 on my Hunter 22, losing the "10" twice (trees and unrigging carelessness) and losing the "15" twice as well (lightning strike and backing into immovable objects).

The lightning strike was uncontrollable, but the remainder incidents were 'my bad'.
Unnecessary expenses!

---The wing nut idea can save time, or
---maybe two cotter pins and pull rings on the extension bracket base (both of those may be good, if there was unfettered access from the cockpit of course), or

---lifting the forward end of the mast and pivoting the it on the stern crutch (tied securely to the crutch) while having the first mate remove the wind vane from the ground, or
---use an 8' step ladder...

Yes, I know, trying to minimize time rigging and unrigging times at the launch...

There MUST be other ideas out there !
 
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