Raist the Mast Fast

[mastreb]

You guys that do that rigging in 15 minutes, is that fully ready to sail; windex installed, sails attached, all lines run or just metal in the air?

So this is 15 minutes from parking the trailer on the hard to fully rigged: mast up, boom on, halyard attached and main slotted, wind sensor raised on its own mast, and (I don't use a windex) and ready to back down the ramp. I always sail, so there's no reason for me to leave the boom off or not be fully rigged. The things I typically forget have to do with the motor--moving the hold lever, turning on the 12V master, etc.

I think the biggest difference between what I do and what most people do is tying off lines and rigging. I put all sheets, lines, and rigging below in the cabin through the gap between the companionway door and the hatch--all my loose ends are below. Other than shackling the stays all to the halyard before they go into the cabin and tying a trucker's hitch over the mast to compress it down, nothing is tied off and consequently need not be untied. The spreaders (also below) keep the big stays from moving around at all. I've put about 1000 miles on the I5 at 65MPH this way thus far and never had anything move or come loose.

The other big time saver is the way I rig the boom: Mailsail cover upside down, with the boomkicker, vang, and mainsheet all thrown in the bottom of the cover so the boom, everything attached to it, and the main all move around as a single unit. I put the entire bagged package on the cabin sole where it fits snugly from the v-berth to wedged between the companionway ladder and the galley. Just sits there, again not tied down. When it's time to rig, I just move the whole think up, attach the boom, and then remove the cover. Boomkicker slides on, vang and mainsheets attached with D shackles, main attached to halyard shackle and slotted, mainsheet cover thrown back into cabin, ready to go. Easy peasy.

Matt

[Mac26Mpaul]

I dont have much tied down generally either, as I mostly launch at the ramp 200 metres from my house. I'm still trying to think of a way to talk the local mayor into believing my area needs to get underground power lines,,,,, no mast lowering for me then

It sounds great Matt. Honestly, if you get the chance, I reckon an instructional video of how it all works would be of great of interest to a lot of us here

[Crikey]

Second that!

[Tomfoolery]

Same here.

[Retcoastie]

I'm in line.....

Ken

[Knot Tied Down]

I just bought my "mods" from Lowes! I'm excited to try this! Do you just leave the stays attached to the side of the boat then? Now to pull the boat from storage, de winterize it, and take it out to put all my new parts on and sail for a few days before the ice hits!
Great mod, thanks!

[mastreb]

Sure, I'll shoot a video next time we go out. By far the slowest part of the rigging is raising the mast with the winch at this point. I raise it by myself so while I can certainly lift it I can't figure out how I'd hold it upright while I'm inserting the forestay clevis or how I'd manage the furler spool while I'm lifting the mast to keep it from snaking all over the place and scratching up my deck. If I work that out, I'll have another five minutes off the time.

You guys who raise without the gin pole, how do you manage that?

[mastreb]

I just bought my "mods" from Lowes! I'm excited to try this! Do you just leave the stays attached to the side of the boat then? Now to pull the boat from storage, de winterize it, and take it out to put all my new parts on and sail for a few days before the ice hits!
Great mod, thanks!

No, I put the spreaders and stays completely down into the cabin and shut the hatch over them, so that only the minimum amount of stay is exposed to reach the mast and the chain-plates. This will leave you with four "loops" of stays up on deck, which I shackle together along with the halyard which keeps them up off the deck and prevents them from moving. I know that's probably hard to understand, but if you toss the stays into the cabin with the mast down, and then make sure as much stay length as possible goes into the cabin, I think you'll be able to figure out what I'm doing.

Matt

[Doug W]

I think the biggest difference between what I do and what most people do is tying off lines and rigging. I put all sheets, lines, and rigging below in the cabin through the gap between the companionway door and the hatch--all my loose ends are below. Other than shackling the stays all to the halyard before they go into the cabin and tying a trucker's hitch over the mast to compress it down, nothing is tied off and consequently need not be untied. The spreaders (also below) keep the big stays from moving around at all. I've put about 1000 miles on the I5 at 65MPH this way thus far and never had anything move or come loose.

Do you have any pictures of this setup?

[mastreb]

I haven't taken any pictures of it yet, but I will and will post video next time I go out.

[Catigale]

You guys who raise without the gin pole, how do you manage that?

Bungy cord from furler to pulpit....lifts it off the deck and automatically pulls furler forward as mast goes up

The mast takes a few seconds to fall if you release it, so you can easily come forward, holding the mast with one hand, and then snag the furler with the other in under 1/2 second. You can then keep tension on the mast with the furler until you get the pin in.

I do strongly recommend the mast raising system though.

[GaryMayo]

You guys who raise without the gin pole, how do you manage that?

Bungy cord from furler to pulpit....lifts it off the deck and automatically pulls furler forward as mast goes up

The mast takes a few seconds to fall if you release it, so you can easily come forward, holding the mast with one hand, and then snag the furler with the other in under 1/2 second. You can then keep tension on the mast with the furler until you get the pin in.

I do strongly recommend the mast raising system though.

The wife would be my mast raising system! lol

Our marina has a mast raising system built in. forty foot poll with lines to the top to raise the mast. Have not tried it yet, but next spring is on the way.

[K9Kampers]

... I can't figure out how I'd hold it upright while I'm inserting the forestay clevis or how I'd manage the furler spool while I'm lifting the mast to keep it from snaking all over the place and scratching up my deck. If I work that out, I'll have another five minutes off the time.

You guys who raise without the gin pole, how do you manage that?

Tie a large bowline around the mast and attach a halyard to the loop. Pull the halyard and secure when the bowline loop has reached the spreaders. Raise the mast. Secure line at bow cleat. If more tension is required, use a trucker's hitch. After securing the furler, release the halyard and retrieve the (bowline) line.

[K9Kampers]

You've covered my three biggest remaining pain points:

1) Roller furling Genoa remains a hassle while moving the mast from pulpit to tabernacle.
2) Mast hinge bolt & nylock is neither fast nor convenient. I hand tighten the nylock only to avoid tools, but this takes a toll on my fingers and is probably not safe.
3) Mast roller sucks.

We should put a bounty on the best solutions for 1 & 3. (2) I understand is relatively easy to solve with the BWY pin.

A nice solution to (3) would be something that also locks the mast down to the roller for trailer transit. I've thought about using a motorcycle wheel lock (large U with a bolt) but something integrated that held the mast in place while raising, lowering, and sliding but that then locked over the top for transport would be pretty ideal.

I don't know that there's ever going to be a great solution to the roller furling genoa snake.

Matt

1) For trailering, I use a gutter shaped plastic extrusion to support the extra length of the furler, some people use a board. The rest of the furler is secured to the mast with bungy loops. No problem to move from pulpit to mast step, and do the sreader/lifeline Mac dance, remove furler support after attaching mast base to mast step.

2) Replaced mast hinge bolt & nut with clevis pin & hitch clip.

3) The mast roller incorporates two flat tangs that position to holes in the mast, insert a pin to secure the mast to the roller. Tieing a line with do the same.

I don't know that there's ever going to be a great solution to the roller furling genoa snake.

See #1 above, and as Catigale said, bungy cord from furler to pulpit, when raising.

[Phil M]

Does anyone secure their mast with a hitchpin instead of using the bolt and nut?



Phil M