Lowering / raising mast .....

[Guest]

OK so you have a 25 - 26ft boat with typical ally mast and furling gear etc. Quite heavy ... takes 3 - 4 people to "walk" that mast up ... with fwd led rope etc. So moderate heavy ...

You have to lower the mast to get under a bridge ... you don't have an A-Frame .... you don't have 4 people ....

You have :

Good windlass on foredeck.
Spinnaker pole topping lift to 3/4 height of mast
Spinnaker halyard from top of mast.
Spinnaker pole (good size telescopic)

You can if really pushed - dismantle boom from a smaller boats mast which is approx. same length as spinny pole.

Mast is stepped onto a Blade fitting on deck and pivot bolt.

So you and 1 other guy have to lower the mast to negotiate 3 bridges ... mast needs to be at least 45 deg (half lowered as minimum) ... pivot allows to about 70 deg.... so angle is not so important.

So I had plan how to do it - then told it was not suitable ... so I'm looking for others who have lowered / raised a mast with only minimum gear and people as above ....

Before anyone says it - there are no cranes / other gear available ... /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

So anyone ??????

 

[CliveG]

I raise and lower the mast on our Evo 25.

It is a 3/4 fractional rig with a 10m mast.
it is deck stepped on a blade as yours is.
I have a length of 4x2 shaped on one end to fit against the mast foot with an Eye bolt and eye nut near the other end.
I have a temporary set of 3mm wire rope rigging to stabilise the mast from a 2 rings that are set in line with the mast pivot point.
the Genoa halyard goes to the top eye on the 4x2 and i use the main sheet from the bottom eye bolt to a fitting near the fore-stay deck fitting.
the tail if the main sheet is lead aft to a halyard winch on the cabin roof.
If lowering I re-feed the sheet to avoid the jambing cleat.

Using this set-up I have raised and lowered the mast by myself.
It is better with someone stabilizing the mast on standing on the cabin roof.
I bring the mast down into a mast rest about 6' above deck level.

 

[Guest]

Unfortunately - I don't have any way to fir temp rigging at same level as mast pivot .. so will have to rely on other guy on cabin top trying to stop all that side movement. Luckily my canal is sheltered ...

My later idea .. as I originally was going to clip spinny pole to ring on mast ... to provide that halyard re-route ... but then as others said - there's no sideways movement preventer and also the spinny pole will be pushing against the mast above the pivot point ... putting a lot of stress ...
So I thought to lash spinny pole and mast from my small w/ender boat together ... attach to cap shroud anchor points and use those as an A-Frame ...

So I was interested in others ways of doing it ...

 

[Lakesailor]

Prevent sideways movement by making a specific pole with a foot that locates on the mast pivot bolt. One side will need to be hinged to allow it to "spring" onto the bolt.
Easier to see on the picture (Excuse shabby welding, bit of a rush)

At the other end weld a tab onto the pole with a hole so you can bolt the furling gear strap to the pole and remove from stemhead fitting. The line runs back to the halyard winch on the mast so you can control descent and help stabilise mast at the same time.

All this helps you control the mast lowring. I did this single handed (OK it's only a 19 ft boat But I made off the line to the foredeck bollard and got down to take the pic - in the pouring rain, so it's perfectly stable.)

 

[Niander]

Yea like it...

 

[Guest]

Lakey ... I like it ... and is going into my pool of ideas ...

Only difference is that I don't have the tabernacle like you ... I have the narrow blade on deck and slot in mast foot ... doesn't give much help to keep mast from moving side to side ...

In a way it's a few stages development on from matey's Evo25 system ... difference being that here you've catered for the furling gear !! and used it effectively as the topping lift for the mast !! cunning !!!!

Mmmmm have to think on this ...

 

[CliveG]

Each of the 2 rings is held in position by:-
The wire up to the mast.
A wire to the top ringbolt on the 4x2
A wire forwards to the toe rail
A small block and tackle aft to the toe rail.
The toe rail is aluminium with large holes every few inches along it
The wires up the mast are held up by the Spi halyard and a rope strop around the mast and pulled up to the underside of the spreaders.
The rope strop in slack enough to pass over the steaming light fitting on the front of the mast.

It took some fiddiling about with wire lengths to get it all to run smoothly.

Once the mast is up the system is removed and stowed away until next time.

 

[Guest]

I shall be sketching away later ... checking angles / lengths etc.

lot of food for thought ....

cheers

 

[KenMcCulloch]

Years ago I used to have a Yeoman 20' half-decked keelboat. The Yeoman was designed originally for the Norfolk Broads and had a mast in a tabernacle and a neat arrangement of forestay through a wee hole in the deck at the bow, and cunning tackles under the foredeck to make raising and lowering the mast 'easy'. In practice it was quite tricky, the biggest problem being keeping it under control laterally; any deviation from the vertical plane put enormous strain on the tabernacle pivot. An A frame of some kind is by far the best method for that reason as it limits the scope for lateral movement. It would not need to be very hefty, a couple of lengths of aluminium tube would be fine I think, but you do need a means to restrain the feet of the A frame as the direction of the load changes.