DIY skill (mast raising)

The side jobs are known as 'A' frames but I agree with Lakesailor those examples look horrid.

They're not even clever for all that, if they were they and the cap shrouds 'd be on the same axis as the mast pivot, so the shrouds give lateral support all the way the mast goes up & down, very useful if something or someone rolls the boat a bit..
 
Croak said:
Just push the thing up, never had a problem up to 22foot, usually on my own but easier with one more person to shout at.
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Likewise. Always found it a doddle, raising or lowering. Bottom tabernacle bolt loose, forestay off, poked the bolt out and walked it backwards, dropping it onto a temporary prop. Experiance did show though that i had to make doubly sure the hatch was closed! :)
 
Croak said:
Just push the thing up, never had a problem up to 22foot, usually on my own but easier with one more person to shout at.
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I can barely lift mine, never mind get it up (ooh er missus). I can carry it around OK if I'm holding it at its centre of gravity but that point is well past the transom when it's attached. I think the reason he has made this fibreglass thing is so he can leave it permanently on, presumably he sails inland and there are a lot of bridges. God only knows what those things are sticking out of his hull, they'd get knocked off on the first dock if I was sailing!
It doesn't matter where the A-frame pivots, many people mount the A-frame to the deck. It's the baby stays that need to be on axis.
 
Creaky Decks,

I think you mean lower shrouds not baby stay, if you want to avoid the caps for some reason.

I would struggle to get my 22' boats' mast up alone, the radar makes just enough difference; top tip, if fitting this, check where the mast goes if using an 'X' frame aft - I managed to fit the ****** scanner exactly on that spot, would probably have missed if I was trying to arrange this !
 
Seajet said:
Creaky Decks,

I think you mean lower shrouds not baby stay, if you want to avoid the caps for some reason.
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I'm not really sure what to call them. They are not part of my normal rig, they are only used to stop the mast swinging sideways when it is low down. Mine is a fractional rig with the cap shrouds set back so they don't offer any stability once the mast is slightly off vertical, the lower shrouds are also set back slightly and are too long to attach to the plates I have on the sides of the cabin that line up with the pivot point. I suppose guy lines might be a better name!
 
Mast lowering

Creaky decks the additional support stays set to remain tight through the whole traverse of the mast are a standard fit on McGregor 26 (and the only good thing about that boat) (hush Willy) I have thought of doing the same on my boat boat but really supporting the mast sideways is not a problem. (Armstrong method)
I have just this morning brought my 21fter home for the winter. Really lowering the mast then sliding it forward for travel took about 5 mins.Compared to more than half an hour for all the rest of the jobs. Raise rudder raise keel, remove boom, remove all running rigging from boom and mast where it goes aft to the cockpit and finally winching on to the trailer.
I use 2 spin poles onto dedicated rings set on side decks. I know one guy who has steel poles permanently fitted to the forestay and on the deck a bit like the f/g one in the video. But his is a 40ft boat.
My best secret for mast lowering is a really tall but 2 level crutch at the transom. Up high for lowering into, slide the base to the bow rail, then drop it to lower level for transport/ storage.

I have just spent as much time again removing the gear from the boat for drying. (the rain has set in)
A list may be of interest. 4 jibs,2 spinnackers, 6 buoyancy vests, 2 matresses, 2 boat hooks, 2 paddles. outboard motor and fuel tank. Then remove the wind vane pointer, pack all the halyards into a bag to protect from sun.
Now at least I will be able to clean up inside and vacuum clean it all. Then start doing all the little jobs ready for yet another season. (Oct) olewill
 
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William_H said:
Creaky decks the additional support stays set to remain tight through the whole traverse of the mast are a standard fit on McGregor 26 (and the only good thing about that boat) (hush Willy) I have thought of doing the same on my boat boat but really supporting the mast sideways is not a problem. (Armstrong method)
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I have the support stays (glad you called them that, I was starting to think maybe there was some rule about "stays" running fore and aft!) in place on mine at the moment. The boat is in the yard on the trailer and to be honest I've not found that they get in the way at all when moving around on deck because my side decks are quite wide. I am thinking of remaking them in stainless and leaving them in place permanently. They aren't in a position that will foul anything.
 
VicS said:
I think he means the bits sticking out from the side of the hull
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Oh No! I hadn't even seen those things! I whizzed through the vid looking at the A frame.
That's the thing that looks awful. The electric winch cable pulling it down to fit the clevis pin seemed a good idea, but far too gadgety.
I suspect those brackets are for some gadget he has invented. There even seems to be a plug in the topsides near them.
His boat has become very extra awful now.

These blokes are using a simple lever to raise the mast. I made on the same for my Valiant. You don't even need to winch on the lever if you have a winch on the mast. If sideways flopping is really an issue just attach two lines to the main halyard and hoist it to the top od the mast and get two interested people to steady the mast from each side of the boat.



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Well masts must vary considerably in weight.

Some say they can raise a 22ft mast just by pushing it up.

well my mast is about 22ft, but it's all I can do to lift it when I'm at the centre of gravity. Any attempt to just push it up gets to about 30 degrees then I run out of strength.

But once it's up to 30 degrees, that's high enough to get it the rest of the way just by a straight pull on the forestay with the trailers winch over the bow roller.

I guess this guy built his A frame and winch so he could lower it single handed frequently, I guess to go under bridges.

But in his case, more hassle is removing the main sail and boom every time you want to lower the mast.

Yes those sticky out bits on the side of the hull wouldn't servive my berth in the harbour. What a strange place to fix appendages to the hull.
 
Somehow I missed those things too; can't think what they're for unless there's a contest for 'Pig Ugly Boat of The Decade' - seems safe to assume it'd win.

I know of an Anderson 22 which has a stainless tubing permanent A frame set-up similar in essence but one hell of a lot neater and better looking; the owner who set that up had a mooring in Looe, Cornwall, upstream of the road bridge ( which meant docking into a floating cradle for good measure ) - for every sail he had to drop the mast to get out, raise it for a sail, drop it coming back, then raise on the mooring - the 26' mast would be vulnerable if left down.

Being faced with a set-up like that does concentrate the mind it seems, my pivotted step is fine for once a year up & down but not for Looe...
 
Back in the '60s, I hired a couple of yachts on the Norfolk Broads with a similar A-frame system. The frame was made of galvanised tubing and the mast was raised and lowered by a hand operated winch under the deck in the forepeak.

At that time most of the Broads boats were gunter rigged with short, counterbalanced masts. The boats I hired were more modern with a bermudan rig mounted on the cabin top. There were hired oput by Martham Ferry Boatyard and I think that they were built there too.
 
Mast on a Pandora (21.5ft) just about manageable by two; pin in mast foot, walk up as far as possible; rope from foresaty through bow roller and round mast winch and wind the rest of the way.
 
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