Stepping the Mast

[Deadrise71]

I know this has probably been beaten to death, BUT I'm curious to know how difficult it is for one person, in decent shape, to raise and lower the eclipse mast into position? It looks pretty manageable in videos, but is this something doable while the boat is in the water?

Thanks for any information,

Chris
boatless

[beradthefish]

Chris - I just made a video of me raising the mast with one hand, with my video phone in the other hand, will post some of these soon.  That's using the raising system.  With two hands, I can raise the mast 'manually'.  It can be done in the water as well, just need to keep good balance.

[Deadrise71]

Great! I'd like to see the video to see the process.

Thanks,
Chris

[skip1930]

I can heft the mast up on my CP-19 by myself.
But I like a second person pushing with me.
And a third person on a safety line from top-o-mast through the anchor roller and cleat-ed off at the trailer.
That way both of the mast haulers can let go of the mast or reposition the feet, or take a second grip. Or unsnarl a shroud that becomes caught under the eyebrow. A common problem.

And one person can do this when the boat's in the water too. But that darn Harken pin is costly.

skip.

[Koinonia]

Ive raised the rig on my 27 on my own!  Purchase, leverage and carefull planing!

[Eagleye]

Chris,
I have stepped my mast on my Eclipse at the ramps 18 times this season and twice on the water.  The Mastendr system using the gin pole and boom vang works great and is effortless.  Yes, you might be able to heft it up but there is nothing like being able to lock up the boom vang cleat while half way up to unsnag a shroud (which will happen).  Also, at my age I don't feel like messing up my back just before a sail.  That would be a drag!

Good Luck,
Allen

[Glenn Basore]

Chris,

I'm 64 with on going neck and back problems from injuries long ago, I have no problem raising or lowering the mast by my self.

I use a modify version of the mast tender system in that I use the boat trailer winch and gin pole working from the ground. From time to time the shrouds or line will snag and I'm able to lock the winch to go solve the snag.

There is nothing better than the ground to be standing on while raising or lowering the mast.

The last time out I rigged and had the boat in the water in 45 minutes despite a couple of hang ups.

Glenn B.

[Koinonia]

I wish I could do mine in 45 minutes.  For my wife and I a launch, rig, put on bimini, solar, ect is around 3 hours.  Im going to add the option to drop the trailer and use a strap instead of my extension to speed things up. 

[Deadrise71]

Thanks for the replies everyone.....just the information I'm looking for.
The Mastender system has me a little confused though. The website shows the mast being lifted single handed and then secured into place with the forestay tang. Is the ginpole and boom vang method part of the Mastender system? Is it something that can easily be stowed when not in use or left in place?

[Eagleye]

Is the ginpole and boom vang method part of the Mastender system? Is it something that can easily be stowed when not in use or left in place?

On the Eclipse it is.  The gin pole is about 6 feet long and easily stores in the cabin.  After raising the mast the boom vang is unclipped from the gin pole and then typically attached to the base of the mast and the boom.  

Allen

[Glenn Basore]

Allen descriptions is right on.

By using the boat winch strap, there is no need to use the boom Vang and therefore I just leave it attached to the boom. one less thing to fuss with.

I also leave my shroud lines in place and just bungee them when towing home so they don't flop around.

Also, the motor stay mounted in the lock position when towing home, Gerry H. says this is fine.

So really, other than raising or lowering the boom to raise or lower the mast everthing is in place.

oh yea, I do mount and remove the rudder when towing.

Glenn B.

[Bob23]

From one Koinoina to another:
   What do you mean by "drop the trailer and use a strap"? Just curious. I've played around with difference mast raising/lowering solutions. Some have worked ok, some have ended with almost disastrous results...but we won't talk about those. Last time I used a home made gin pole (2x4) with eyebolts on the end and used a 4:1 block and tackle to lower my mast.  Mike Greene's method as videoed on his blog was a big help. I borrowed his baby stay idea...thanks Admiral B!
   It sounds like you've raised and lowered your 27's mast numerous times alone...any further info on how you do this would be appreciated...that's a long mast, eh?
bob23

[Koinonia]

    Bob,

   The drop and strap is just for launching and retrieving, but here is a little of what Ive used in case it may help.

    Due to the 27s size and draft though shallow by standards of that size boat I need an extension to get the trailer far enough out and deep enough to float her off.  My current extension is a 32ft long piece of 4in box tube with a hitch welded on one end and a ball welded to the other.  The end with the ball has a 3ft wide bar under it with solid rubber wheels under it to handle the tongue weight.  There are a ton of differant ways out there but this extension works well since I can steer the trailer if needed.  The downside is it takes time and that thing is really freakin heavy!  Its been a while since I posted a picture so I hope I remember.  Unfortunatly I dont have a good picture of the extension but this gives some of the idea with a friends boat on the trailer.


cape dory 009 by koinonia27, on Flickr

What I mean by using a strap is having a wheel that drops down from the front of the trailer to support the tongue and using a strap between the truck and trailer.  This is a very quick and easy method but you have to set the trailer just right since you dont have steering options.  I use this method on my stantana 20 and can do the launch or retrieval in just a couple minutes.

The strap method is what I want to use to speed things up for koinonia as well as not wear myself out in the process.

As far as actually getting the mast up  we all just have to find what works for us.  Koinonias mast is heavy.  Im using 10ft 2X4s for my A frame with a 6:1 block set.  With that purchase you have to be very carefull not to get something caught since you wont feel it as quick and can damage something.  There is another 27 post on this site with a similar A frame setup.  I wish I had more pictures but everytime I do this that last thing Im thinking about is a camera!  The 27s rig would be a disaster to drop or have something bread during the process!!