Raising mast with gin pole

I use a gin pole with a Memory 19 mast, which is pretty heavy for the length of boat. Is the mast lying over the stern and raising forwards or over the bow and raising back? Gin pole "shrouds need to be at same point along deck as centre of rotation to keep same tension through arc of raising and avoid a cam effect. Should be tight enough to avoid pole falling off centre and causing a lateral pull on tabernacle/base pivot. Need to ensure that when mast is verticle, gin pole end is at winching point. If short you loose the advantage and if long the last winching would compress the pole. So if raising forwards, pole length is to bow. Can then attach forestay to gin pole end fitting. Will the boat be on a trailer? Easy if it is, can attach trailer winch strop to gin pole end and raise in controlled manner with ratchet on so it will stay half way up whilst you go and unhook the shrouds caught on fittings. Again, if on trailer park bow directly up hill for controlled raise against gravity and no lateral force on tabernacle and pivot bolt. If you have an additional thin line on forestay you can temporarily make it off whilst disconnecting from gin pole and attaching to bow fitting. If not on trailer, 2:1 tackle should be okay. Could use mainsheet, but I found it less hassle to have a separate one.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I've got a gin pole for raising the mast on my Leisure 20. I'm shortly going to use it for the first time and would be grateful for any tips. The mast is not the original i think and is a substantial section and 26' long.
https://goo.gl/photos/Jv1KsZyGSHCxnjJKA
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The big thing to avoid is getting small shroud bottlescrews bent as they flop around loose and then go tight as the mast is raised. Unless of course your boat is set up so that shroud bases are dead level with mast pivot, but very few are. On boats that size with raisable masts I always preferred lanyards rather than bottlescrews for that reason. Used to raise mast without pole: just walk/push up from aft, cleat forward line, then tension up everything.
 
My lowers have a flat bar section at the bottom and the mast raising diagram (attached previously) shows the top of the bar tied back to the pulpit presumably to provide side support.
jwilson said:
The big thing to avoid is getting small shroud bottlescrews bent as they flop around loose and then go tight as the mast is raised. Unless of course your boat is set up so that shroud bases are dead level with mast pivot, but very few are. On boats that size with raisable masts I always preferred lanyards rather than bottlescrews for that reason. Used to raise mast without pole: just walk/push up from aft, cleat forward line, then tension up everything.
Click to expand...
 
jwilson said:
The big thing to avoid is getting small shroud bottlescrews bent as they flop around loose and then go tight as the mast is raised. Unless of course your boat is set up so that shroud bases are dead level with mast pivot, but very few are. On boats that size with raisable masts I always preferred lanyards rather than bottlescrews for that reason. Used to raise mast without pole: just walk/push up from aft, cleat forward line, then tension up everything.
Click to expand...
My mast is far too heavy to raise without some sort of tackle.
 
That's very clever. Presumably that raises the pivot point to level with the mast pivot so the lowers act as the gin pole shrouds and are isometric from that point as the mast raises. Great system. As for mast weight, dedicated block and tackle, which can have a cam cleat to let you stop half way, or use the trailer winch. Nice to be able to move mast on the water.
 
One simple trick to aid in mast lower/raising is to make up a crutch at the stern which is as high as possible. ie as high as you can lift the mast up into while standing on cockpit seats. This means you lift the mast as far as possible before you resort to the tackle. The greatest load being when closer to horizontal. I use a pole crutch with an extendable inner tube with high support and a lower one near horizontal for on the road.
Some mast bases have 2 lugs and an axle (bolt ) through the two parts. The lugs spaced about 10cms apart are very susceptible to any side swing of the mast in transit. I might suggest you substitute a 6mm bolt for the raising just to give more free play. Put a close fitting bolt in later when it is up.
A typical mast head rig will have cap shrouds with chain plate in line (abeam) with the mast. If as you seem to have the pivot point of the cap shrouds (or intermediates) in line with and level with the mast pivot point you should have cap shrouds tight before you start raising and they stay that way through the transit arc. A very good system.
This aspect is much more tricky for those of us with fractional rigs so chain plates well aft of inline with mast. I confess after becoming very practiced that I just have enough people to support the mast sideways as it goes up. I must have done it 100+ times on a 21ft TS.
I have to say I find 2 spin poles as an A frame gin pole easier to manage but then I have 2 spin poles. One to use and one for a spare. I use a 3 purchase tackle.
The next hard part especially with roller jib furling is getting the forestay attached to the bow when it is up. If you have an eye in the forestay or a turnscrew then you may be tempted to attach your tackle to that. This is bad as you need the eye clear for attachment. I use a piece of ss rod bent into an eye which clamps parallel to the forestay to attach the tackle so I can heave down on the tackle to get the forestay attached. Another option is to use a halyard for actual raising the mast leaving the forestay and furling gear free. This is OK if halyard is firmly cleated but I am still a bit wary.
If this is the first self raising of the mast make notes for future lowering and raising. Practice will get it right and easy. olewill
 
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