Does the X have a topping lift?

[SailorII]

I raised the mast last weekend, and left the rear crutch up. On my way home I thought to remove the crutch, and noticed nothing was supporting it. Is there a a topping lift to hold the mast up?

[March]

Not sure I see what you mean. On an X, you remove the crutch and store it away while the mast is up. When the mast is lowered, you've got to have the crutch in place--or else the mast will go all the way down on top of the steering column, or worse. I guess you can have a lowered mast attached at the pulpit, laying on top of the cabin hatch--but why would you want to do that?

When the mast is up, what holds is is the forestay, or the mast raising system

[Trouts Dream]

On an X, when the mast is lowered it will contact the hatch cover first and rest there if the crutch is not put in. Very hard on the mast and the cover. Don't ask, I just know this first hand. Doh.
A topping lift runs from the top of the mast to the end of the boom to support the boom, not the mast.
I too am curious, exactly what do you mean?

[Craig LaForce]

Yes, there is supposed to be a topping lift to hold the boom up when the sail is lowered. You might have to add a small cleat on the boom to attach the topping lift to.

The topping lift is usually unhooked when the sail is hoisted to allow proper tension on the mainsail.

The mast crutch is supposed to be removed once the mast is raised.

(I assume you meant to say boom instead of mast in your post, which probably confused )

[RickJ]

I raised the mast last weekend, and left the rear crutch up. On my way home I thought to remove the crutch, and noticed nothing was supporting it. Is there a a topping lift to hold the mast up?

Is this or (It helps to put your boat type in your profile so everyone knows.)

I'm not familiar with the details of the M, but the X mast crutch doubles as a boom crutch for when the boat is moored, or parked mast-up.

You should still have a topping lift to take the weight of the boom while you hoist the sails, at which point you take the support out.

[Kelly Hanson East]

A topping lift is not standard on a Mac, but most of them have one added. Its a better choice to add a Boomkicker though...thats a spring that will lift the boom and hold it up when the main sail comes down.

You can buy a boomkicker right on this site with the ONLINE CATALOG button on left.

I can tell from your prose you have a 2003 in the speedy white hull colour of course, but not everyone here is as perceptive as this retired Admiral

[c130king]

How much of a pain is it to remove a boom-kicker when lowering or raising the mast

If it is "easy on, easy off" I may go for that...otherwise I will live with my regular boom vang.

Jim

[SailorII]

Sorry, in my haste to post, I muddled the question.
I have the mast up, with the boom on the mast crutch. Last weekend, mast up, sail covers on, I practiced launching the boat from the trailer, and motoring up the channel, retrieving the boat onto the trailer, and parking it.
While parked, with the mast up still, and leaving for the day, I noticed the crutch was still up with the boom on it.
I started to remove the crutch but I felt the weight of the boom as thought it was unsupported. I assumed it should have asome topping lift attached, but I didn't secure one when I raised the mast. I looked over the mast raising instructions, and didn't find that step.
Did I miss something?

[RickJ]

As KHE stated, a topping lift is not standard, so it will depend on whether a PO added one or not. All it needs (in addition to the line) is a small cheek block at the top of the mast, and a small cleat somewhere near the gooseneck (unless you run it aft).

One may have been installed, but the line not threaded, you'll have to check what you've got. In any event it'll be a mast-down job to sort it out.

You can manage without simply by keeping the crutch in place until you raise the mainsail. I think I would only do it this way by keeping the boat slowly powered, with one person on the helm holding straight into wind while another raises the main. Not good for single-handing (without an AP), because then you really want to let the boom swing free until the sail is hoisted so the sail luffs. That's when you really need the topping lift.

Cheers, Rick

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

The boom kicker is very easy on and off.

The fitting attached to the bottom of the boom has a slot in it that mates up with two pins on the sides of the upper boom kicker end. To remove you simply lift the boom up a bit and the boom kicker slides free of the slot. You do the opposite when setting up.

At the mast base the fitting for the other end came with a clevis pin and ring ding. I replaced this on mine with a captive ball quick pin.

These two things make the boom kicker setup or removal about a 10 second process.

Another useful thing related to this on an X is a backstay pigtail. It is a short piece of cable with a clip on the end that is swaged to the backstay. You just clip it onto a fitting (I use the outhaul guide) at the end of the boom and it supports the boom without the need for a full topping lift.

I like this best of all because not only does it support the boom, it limits it's swinging. It works great in conjuction with the boomkicker.



Add the mainsheet and it will stop all side to side swinging of the boom. When not sailing I detach the mainsheet from the pedestal and clip the bottom block to the stbd side aft pulpit loop where the lifeline attaches. This parks the boom off to the side out of the way and gets the mainsheet mess off the pedestal.

[ALX357]

A topping lift is useful even if you have a boomkicker. Sometimes you want the boom to be positively hung, and held up even against downward pressure that would depress a boomkicker. You can variably adjust the height of the boom with a topping lift, as well as higher than the boomkicker will go.

All four options are on my boat.

1) topping lift
2) boomkicker
4) back-stay pigtail
4) mast/boom crutch

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

Provided you have just a bit extra length, you can also use the main halyard as a stand in topping lift when you need a hard stopping point. Just attach it to the boom bail which on an X can rotate above the boom as it is fitted at the boom end.