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Ok, second day out. Fixed a kink in the mast raising system and used the winch. OMG - easy as hull! The firestay gave me the same trouble as before. In fact as I was struggling with it I dropped the pin in the water. I had myself and my friend...both 200lbs laying on the halyard line to try and give it slack...no luck....even with two guys on it...still1 inch off. a Checked all rigging....no kinks...nothing... seems like the cable is just a little short. I am going to add some sort of assembly to hook it up and then add tension...life is too short to be messing around with it. Any ideas would be helpful...I figure if two grown men putting all their strength on it can't do it in 30 minutes...something must be off.

corkscrew,
The forestay is supposed to be very, very tight. In fact, it's usually pulling against 350 lbs. on each upper shroud, plus 225 lbs. on each lower shroud.

An apparent shortage or gap of one inch (even 3 inches) is not unusual if the rig is properly tuned. That degree of rigging tension is what "stands" the mast against 20 knots of wind.

The mast raising system uses a 4:1 purchase, either on the sheet winch or a dedicated mast winch, to pull the mast forward against the tensions of all four shrouds. Two guys is 200 lbs. too much. You need leverage.

SAME SUGGESTIONS . . . . SECOND ATTEMPT . . .
March wrote:

• The other thing that helped was a rope tied above the furler (drum), with a loop at the other end.
  
  The rope goes over the pulpit
  (in my case, over the bow rubrail, rather than pulpit).
  
  By stepping into the loop and pressing hard (w/your body weight),
  the mast flexes just enough to enable me to put the pin through.
  (it's sometimes easier to stand on the trailer ladder and step into this foot-loop)
  
  On the other hand, once the mast is in place, it is really TIGHT
  Yes, the backstay has to be loose

I bought a compound lever http://mauriprosailing.com/Merchant2/me ... ode=JOHQRL)
(for this problem, and had to move the top connector of the furler up the mast about 8 ".

Now, its easy to pin the boogar ,bugar?,nose goblin?.

John.

corkscrew wrote: In fact as I was struggling with it I dropped the pin in the water.

Sounds like your putting the mast up with the boat in the water. Try putting the mast up before launching the boat. That way, anything tools etc. land on the parking lot, not in the water. Remember, what goes over board, usually stays over board.

It sounds to me as though you're still not getting the full effect of the mast-raising system. Once you've winched the mast vertical you should be able to heave on the winch and cleat the tail off so the mast is pulled as far forward as the shrouds will let it. In this state the forestay must reach.

At this point you should still have free line between the mast raising blocks at the foredeck. If you've managed to winch the mast-raising pole right down so the blocks have met you've probably not pulled the mast as far as it will go. In this case you need to shorten the length of halyard coming down to the raising pole.

You can do this without dropping the mast again by:

• have someone stand behind the mast to ensure it doesn't fall backwards (just needs steadying, there's no real weight in this position)
• release the mast-raising line from the winch and give it some slack
• pull in the jib halyard where it's cleated to the mast, which will pull up the raising pole from the foredeck - re-cleat the halyard
• winch in the mast-raising line again hard and lock in the jam cleat
• if you've still managed to get the blocks to meet, shorten the halyard again

Full grunt on the raising line without the pole hitting the deck will put as much forward pull on the mast as the forestay can manage. So if in that situation it still doesn't fit it never will

Cheers, Rick

Some points to consider on this problem:

1). Before or at the time of purchase, have you ever seen the mast up & fully rigged?

2). Had the previous owner walked you thru the process?

3). Assuming that since you are using the mast-raising-system, the mast hinge must be in the proper position on the mast base (pinned thru rear holes). Is the mast hinge orientated properly on the bottom of the mast?

4). Is something between the mast hinge & mast base when the mast is upright?

5). Are the upper & lower shrouds connected to the chainplates correctly? Upper shroud to rear hole, lower shroud to forward hole.

6). Is the backstay tension correct? (adjustable)

7). Are the forstay / RF & backstay correctly attached to the mast?

8 ). Do the forstay, backstay, or any other rigging for that matter, look different (newer, shinier) than the others? Maybe a wire / end was replaced / modified before new owner pickup.

As to your 2nd question:
quote:

Also any tips on guiding a boat to a dock would be helpful as well.

Docking Manuevers (Youtube-need sound)

I used to know that guy

Rick