When I first started setting up the boat it would take 90 minutes and sometimes up to two hours. Most of this was my inexperience and just going slow. I was using the factory's mast raising system and finally concluded that this was just too much work and there had to be a better way. After much thought I came up with a new way that is much easier and is much faster. Instead of a half an hour to raise the mast, I can now do it in about 10 minutes.
Here is how I raise the mast.
First, I use the trailer winch. I run the trailer winch line up between the bow stop.
Second, I run the cable to where the mast pins to the bow spirit for transport. I got an extra mast step pin to make this process easier and just in case I ever bend a pin. However, I think bending a pin is extremely unlikely as the mast goes up extremely easy with this technique.
Next, I connect the winch cable to the main halyard, ensuring that the lines are not tangled and run freely.
Here is what the setup looks like before I attempt to raise the mast.
When I have someone to help, I am now ready to raise the mast. When I have help, I hold the mast up while my helper cranks the winch handle. It goes up very easily. However, I single hand quite a bit and wanted something to support the mast so that it could be raised when I didn't have help. My solution was to build a mast stand to hold the mast so that I could operate the winch.
As can be seen, the stand provides a good angle for the winch cable so thatthe mast can be pulled up.
I tow my boat with a truck so I had room to carry such an unwieldy stand.
As can be seen, the stand provides a good angle for the winch cable so that the mast can be pulled up.
Here the mast is going up!
And up...
Just continue to crank on the winch handle and the mast goes right up. It works great. A little more tension and the jib is easily pinned in place. Just reverse the procedure to take the mast down. It really made the job of raising the mast a piece of cake.
This page last updated on 1/29/2012 6:50:32 AM. If you have comments or suggestions, email me at webmaster@jscheetz.com