Raising the mast

[MOlson]

Found a CP 19 I really like....but here's the big question for my old back.
How easy is it to raise the mast on the 19? 
I'm quite sure the CP 16 is easy and I can walk it up, but how about the 19?

Also is the 19 significantly harder to launch because of it's size and draft?

Thanks, you all have been really helpful in locking me into the Com-Pac world.

Mark O

[MOlson]

found a great answer about the mast in the archives...!!

Still love to hear comments on trailering and launching.
Mark O

[wes]

I love my 19 but honestly - it's not easy (I'm 59 and healthy). Rigging and un-rigging when trailering is physically demanding. Every time I raise the mast (very difficult solo; my wife always helps me) there's a scary moment when I think disaster is at hand. Now I keep my 19 in a slip so I can go sailing without breaking a sweat.

The 16 in my opinion is much more manageable for frequent trailering. The 19 really shines for sleeping aboard, and for stability when wind and waves kick up.

Wes

[hoddinr]

And a SunCat has them all beat for simplicity and ease of raising the mast.

Ron

[Shawn]

" Every time I raise the mast (very difficult solo; my wife always helps me) there's a scary moment when I think disaster is at hand. "

Baby stays take away that fear. Run a chain on each side between the life line stantions ahead/behind the mast step. Leave them loose enough so they can be raised to the same height as the pivot point of the mast. At that point on each chain attach a low stretch line (same length both sides) that is just a little shorter than your spreaders. Take the main halyard and loop it around the mast below the spreaders. Clip the low stretch line to the looped halyard below the spreaders. Take the slack out of the baby stays with the main halyard and cleat off the main halyard.

If you have it setup right (mostly the chain length) the baby stays will stay tensioned the entire process of raising/lowering the mast and they will keep the mast from moving side to side. That takes the biggest drama out of raising lowering the mast.

After that use your preferred method of raising/lowering the mast. I used a 4:1 boom vang for awhile (with long line in it) but then swapped over to the trailer winch as you could easily stop at any point (to clear a stay if needed) and it was less effort due to the gearing of the winch.

Shawn

[Mike]

I love my 19 but honestly - it's not easy (I'm 59 and healthy). Rigging and un-rigging when trailering is physically demanding. Every time I raise the mast (very difficult solo; my wife always helps me) there's a scary moment when I think disaster is at hand. Now I keep my 19 in a slip so I can go sailing without breaking a sweat.

The 16 in my opinion is much more manageable for frequent trailering. The 19 really shines for sleeping aboard, and for stability when wind and waves kick up.

Wes

I would agree with that comment....great boat once in the water but at 68 it is a bit much alone.

[copcardrvr]

Just my 2 cents... when I was in my mid 40s, I had a Merit 22 and a Victoria 26 , both trailerable, but I couldn't step the masts on either without assistance. The shrouds were offset and they were just too heavy. Now I have a Com Pac 19 and I step the mast myself (at age 62) with no worries and not a lot of physical effort. The mast is relatively short and only weighs about 40 or 50 pounds and the shrouds are in line with the tabernacle so there's no need to loosen them.

I've seen a lot of 19 owners that have elaborate stands for the masts when trailering, but the bow pulpit and stern rails are extremely stout so you can just bungee the mast to them and when you arrive at your destination, make sure the backstay and shrouds are connected, slide the mast aft far enough to run the bolt through the tabernacle (you have to keep pressure on the base of the mast because the stern rail is the fulcrum and there will be more mast aft of the rail. Once you have the bolt through the mast base, straddle the cockpit seats, put the mast on your shoulder and walk it forward. When it's up, grab the forestay and (keeping tension on it) walk to the bow and fasten the forestay and you're done (except for tightening the backstay, the shrouds should already be tight).

It is nice to have a helper (in case you let go of the forestay before it's fastened or if it's extremely windy) and they can help untangle the rigging when it gets caught on stuff (it will) but if you're careful and think about what you're doing, it's no big shake. It really isn't physically that hard, it's just ungainly moving a 22 foot stick around. I usually look for an out of the way place so if the worst happens I won't hit anything or anybody. As far as launching, with a shoal draft of less than 3 feet, it's as easy or easier than any power boat I've ever launched.

And finally, I love the way the 19 sails! I've sailed the 16 and it's a bit too tender for my liking and you can see why when you see them out of the water. The 16's hull is shaped like a barrel and the 19's is more like a bathtub. With the flatter hull, the boat is very stiff. I routinely run with full sails in 15-20 kts with 10 degrees or less of heel. My friend had a Com Pac 27 and, frankly, I much prefer the 19, My old Cherubini designed Hunter 36 was faster (but only by about a couple knots on most days) but not nearly as much fun to sail. It was like driving a Chevy Suburban compared to a Mazda Miata and I couldn't take it anywhere else. Surprisingly, the cockpit wasn't that much bigger in the 36 than in the 19 so two's company but four is not a crowd. The 19 is a great boat, I know you'll enjoy it.

[kickingbug1]

   i have been told that the mast of a cp19 is a lot lighter than the one on my catalina 18. at 63 i have no problem walking that mast up on the catalina. i do have an extendable mast crutch which helps a lot, it also doesnt hurt that im 6'5". my boat has a homemade jib furler which is both simpler and lighter than the cdi unit that came with the boat. without the furler mast raising is much easier however.  i also use the jib halyard which is run through the bow cleat and back the a winch. it hold the mast while i attach the forestay.

[Winkle]

Hi kickingbug 1,
Can you please tell us a little about your home made jib curler? Thanks, Rod

[kickingbug1]

  the furler is pretty simple. it consists of a solid aluminum drum (made at a local welding shop) attached to 3/4 inch pvc (for the foil). tell you what send me a e mail (fordtruck52@yahoo) and ill send what pics i have.

[philb Junkie19]

Raising the mast single handed on the 16 was no problem with a little help from a halyard around the bow roller but the 19 held more potential for disaster.  Here are some pics of a gin pole system for my 19 that allows me raise it alone hands off the mast.  The key is having briddles that allow the short temporary stays to pivot in line with the pivot point of the mast and gin pole to constant keep tension as the mast goes up and down.  They are attached to the stantion bases as shown with carbiners. The upper part of the falls is hooked to a loop around the mast and pulled up with the halyard a ways below the speaders.  The falls hardware is nothing marine, mostly pulleys and stuff from tractor supply.  The rope is sta set, maybe over kill but I didn't want any stretch.  The set up at the stern allows the mast to be high enough to begin lifting with no hoist from me. 

This is my first attempt at posting pictures. Hope it works! 

[philb Junkie19]

I should paid more attention to the previous posts in this thread, too eager to try to post my pics. Shawn describes the process well.  I like the lifting angle the gin pole option provides. I hope the pics help

[skip1930]

Me and my buddy with a CP-19 have two masts to push up in one day.

We both just heft the mast up off our stern pulpit and I place the mast on my shoulder while standing in the cockpit. Steve would scurry up on top of the cabin and then we would lift it a bit higher and then I would join Steve on the cabin top.

Together we just push the mast forward and up. Once in a while one of those side stays would be caught under the eye brow. And one of us would have to un-hook the cable from under the brow. Then come back and keep pushing the mast up. [Back stay always really loose]

All the time we have a safety line on the head stay feeding down through the anchor roller and down around the welded cleat on the trailer tongue. We usually find some cute young thing [a ten year old girl did just fine once] to just take up the slack on the safety line as the mast goes up. When and if we decided to take a rest we had the safety line cleated to the trailer. The mast would just hang where she tied it off. [Stay Set line. No stretch] And soon we would resume the raising.

Once standing tall [25 foot above the waterline] Steve would lean against the mast and I would climb down and pin the Harken '0-0' to my boat and he'd then tighten up the back stay. On Steve's boat we always have questions about the CDI flex-Furler. Can't make it easy it seems.

It's been at least 8 years since any side stays have been un-pinned from the chain plates. Always use a separate pin for each stay and turnbuckle. They operate on different angles at the chain plates and spreaders.  

Hook up the electrics at the bottom of the mast and ... all done. We also have done this mast raising while on the water, tied to the dock without a safety line.

I would not recommend doing this. The trailer is much more convenient, especially if You drop the Harkin pin a few times onto the ground. We never take the time to rig any thing to help raise the masts. Takes about ten minutes once you get started.

skip.  

[marc]

Hi Phil,
I've got a question. You pull up the loop around the mast with your halyard. Is the line from the gin pole also attached to this loop?
Marc

[marc]

Oops. Thought about that a little more. That can't work, can it? Awaiting your comments.
Marc