Proper technique for lowering mast

[patspost]

Hi Folks,
I am looking for a proper technique to manually lower & raise mast.
I have a Hunter Horizon 23, the mast is about 26 ft. The last couple of times the mast has managed to go sideways on me and I have damaged a spreader.
I was wondering if people have a decent method that they could share with me.
It is normally a 2 man job, but I suppose a 3rd person would be handy.
Any ideas or links would be appreciated.

 

[Ceirwan]

Lower it backwards via a block and tackle on the forestay, or spinnaker sheet etc. Loosen the caps but leave them on if possible, they will provide some lateral support. Have one person supporting the mast at the base to try and prevent it flopping, and also to take the strain when it gets further down and the pull on the forestay becomes horizontal.

 

[bobupanddown]

This might be too expensive but is an ideal solution. You could perhaps make up your own at a cheaper price Mast Derrick

 

[Spyro]

Assuming it can be pivoted backwards. Build an A frame mine is a tripod and fix it to the toe rails on the fore deck, fit block and tackle at the top of the frame fix a rope to the mast through the block and pulleys and lead back to a winch. take the strain on the rope through the block and tackle, loosen the shrouds do not take them off, take off the forestay. lower the mast backwards with one man on the winch and one controlling the mast. you may have to build a frame at the stern to lower it down onto if there is a danger that when it is lowered it will hit the cabin hatch or coach roof.
I have done it with my 30 ft mast with my wife on the winch and me controlling the mast

 

[paulburton44]

Have a look here http://www.parkeryachts.co.uk/Parker%20235%20Gallery.htm
and see a few pics of the parker 235 doing it....I lower my mast about 30 times a year...sometimes by myself....

 

[kieronriley]

At our club we usualy have min. four people normaly five or six,one on the jib halyard (extended)standing about 20 foot in front of the bow,two or three on deck and if windy one on the windward side with the main halyard (to stop the wind taking it)and simply lower the mast the weight is on the jib halyard most of the way down so deck hands just take a small amount of weight and guide the mast then when it reches its lower point the deck hands take over and lower no great strain we have masts up to 36 foot which we lower this way no problem P.S as most clubs our members are not young men,but no problem(bigger masts sometimes have two on jib halyard) Kieron /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

 

[oldharry]

Much depends on the fitting at the mast heel. If you have a tabernacle fitting (2 cheeks allowing the mast to pivot at a point around 30cms above the deck) life is dead easy, and on a windless day fit man can do a 26 ft mast single handed (I used to quite regularly till I started to lose my hair!)

If you have a fitting which pivots at mast level, usually a bolt through a cast fitting at or projecting aft of the base of the mast, then more care is needed to prevent the mast twisting sideways and damaging itself and usually snapping the fitting. This requires two, preferably three people.

The technique is the same. A long line taken forward from the masthead controls the rate of descent (thats the easy bit usually done by SWMBO!) while the man (men) on deck control the mast and keep it in line as it descends. If the boat is not horizontal then extra crew on lines on the higher side will be needed to help control it.

If the heel fitting is simply a shoe into which the mast fits, then dropping without a crane is not recommended, as the heel will almost certainly jump out as the mast descends, at which point you have lost it completely, will damage the mast, the boat and probably yourself.

Mast lowering by hand should not be tried on a windy day. Its quite surprising how a gust of wind can take control!

2 of us lowered a heavy 32 foot tabernacle mounted mast this way last year without any hassle at all. We had three to put it back up, which made life much easier in the first stages of raising.

The critical bit always comes when the mast is around 20 degrees from the horizontal, at which point the deck crew will be taking much of the weight unless the bow line man is well above the level of the deck (i.e. standing on a dock or jetty).

 

[ebbtide]

[ QUOTE ]
The critical bit always comes when the mast is around 20 degrees from the horizontal, at which point the deck crew will be taking much of the weight unless the bow line man is well above the level of the deck (i.e. standing on a dock or jetty).

[/ QUOTE ]

Try using the spi pole in there to manage that bow line: fixed line from the masthead to end of pole, then double purchase (long rope!) to lower it slowly. Works a treat - but it's the possible fall sideways that needs watching.

 

[Lakesailor]

Make a simple pole which attaches to the pivot bolt in the tabernacle (if you have one)

It tends to stop sideways movement of the mast. I used it single-handed and got down to take a piccy, leaving the mast secure. You run a line under the bow roller to the end of the pole and attach the forestay (or roller gear) to the same pole end. That line controls the lowering. You can put it on the halyard winch and raise the mast whilst having full control of the mast.

 

[dtripp]

Yes, I like to do it single handed on a similar boat, and the main problem is the sideways drag once it gets past about 45 degrees, rather than the weight of the top section of the mast (because if you’re standing aft more than half the weight of the mast will be carried by the tabernacle). I don’t like carrying and then rigging 2 poles, so an answer is:
1) measure the length of the shroud parallel to the mast from the deck at the chainplate to the height of the tabernacle pivot point (ie. this will be a fraction longer that the vertical height). This done with the mast stepped, of course.
2) Make a prop of that length that you can fix to the deck at the chainplate, hold its top both horizontally and fore and aft in line with the mast pivot point, and bend the shroud over it as the mast drops. Because the top of the prop then behaves as the base of the shroud, the shroud will hold the mast central as it drops, exactly as it does from the deck when stepped.
I’ve seen boats with their chainplates extended to the necessary height (neat), but the way I’ve done it is with a length of 1” s.steel tube. A slot at the bottom slides over the chainplate to shroud bottle screw pin to fix it there, and a large thimble is partly inserted into the top for the shroud to bend over. A line is then run from the thimble to a stanchion base to hold it in place. This can then remain in place while sailing, which is easier than rigging poles and things for a bridge.
I can then stand in the aft of the cockpit, lower the mast with the spin halyard on a winch, and take the weight of the mast above the crosstrees when it gets to about 25 degrees from horizontal, lowering it about the last 2 feet on my shoulder.
Hope you get the picture, but if not I’ll do diagrams when I’ve a bit more time.