Tips on rigging my boat

[Eric79]

My new boat is on the water (hooray). My friend who was going to help me get the mast up and rig it can't now come and help me so I'm tempted to have a go with just me and my step son. I have a basic idea what to do and its not overly complicated as its only a 16ft day sailor, the previous owner did briefly explain what goes where. Has any got any tips before we tackle it?

 

[aquaplane]

You should be able to handle the mast on a 16' boat on your own. Having someone to hold the mast while the forestay is fitted is a bonus.

Fit the shrouds and back stay.

Fit the bolt at the bottom of the mast.

You may need some sort of support for the mast toward the stern of the boat, quite a high one if anything gets in the way such as hatch garage etc.

Erect the mast and keep tension on the forestay as you walk forwards to fit it to the stem head fitting.

There may be a few ups and downs as the shrouds fall out of the mast or get caught round every cleat or winch as you put it up but you will get there.

Have fun.

 

[Eric79]

You should be able to handle the mast on a 16' boat on your own. Having someone to hold the mast while the forestay is fitted is a bonus.

Fit the shrouds and back stay.

Fit the bolt at the bottom of the mast.

You may need some sort of support for the mast toward the stern of the boat, quite a high one if anything gets in the way such as hatch garage etc.

Erect the mast and keep tension on the forestay as you walk forwards to fit it to the stem head fitting.

There may be a few ups and downs as the shrouds fall out of the mast or get caught round every cleat or winch as you put it up but you will get there.

Have fun.

Thanks sounds easy enough

 

[sarabande]

yes

Make sure the boat is securely chocked or tied down on a trailer or the ground so that she doesn't wobble.


Try to avoid treading on the hull as it is probably unsupported by water.


Have a beer to celebrate.


(Oh yes, check that the luff groove is completely clear of spiders and any other cludge.)

 

[Eric79]

yes

Make sure the boat is securely chocked or tied down on a trailer or the ground so that she doesn't wobble.


Try to avoid treading on the hull as it is probably unsupported by water.


Have a beer to celebrate.


(Oh yes, check that the luff groove is completley clear of spiders and any other cludge.)

Its already in the water although I'm planning on going at low tide and putting the legs on for extra support

 

[aquaplane]

I always rigged my First 18 afloat until I went to Loch Lomond where they want you to launch and go.

Stood by the mast and walking to the pointy bit you are in the middle of the boat so tippyness isn't much of a problem.

Folk in the TSA always rig on the trailer though so that's how I do it with the Harrier 20'er. I have done it afloat to retreve a lost halyard so it's not imposible, or much harder really.

 

[Avocet]

I'd be quite nervous of a first-timer doing it int he water! Our first boat was a Leisure 17 and was twin-keeled, so we could always "run it aground" for a bit of stability, but it's still quite a scary task! A lot depends on how the mast is mounted at the bottom. Does it sit in a "shoe" or a "tabernacle" or something like that? Or is it the sort that goes through a hole in the cabin roof and down to the bottom of the boat? The former is much easier to erect afloat than the latter. Even then you need to be very careful because if the boat starts to tilt, the weight of the mast will be thrown in the direction of the tilt and your natural reaction will be to run round to the side it's falling towards to catch it - which will make the tilt even worse!

The idea of putting the legs on seems good, if you're confident that the surface on which the legs rest (and the legs) are stable and strong enough. Might be worth a couple of heavy people standing on one side of the boat and then the other a couple of times to see if either leg sinks at all.

Obviously, the only other trick depends on the particular geometry of the mast. On most, you can leave the backstay on before raising the mast, so at least it won't fall too far forward. On some, you can leave at least some of the shrouds connected, but they will only stop the mast falling sideways once it is close to vertical and they have a habit of coming up crooked and bending their bottlescrews if you're not careful.

Someone needs to have the forestay shackle pin (or whatever holds it) ready to pop into place the instant the mast is up.

 

[Eric79]

Well that was a bit of a disaster. Rather foolishly I used a small tender that came with the boat and tried to use it on a day of a very strong tide. As soon as we got into the the too small tender I relised it was a mistake but by then the tided carried us out, we tried to row with the tide to the boat but missed. Fortunatly we managed to grab on to another boat and phone the nice man from the local marine servise to rescue us! So didnt make it to the boat to event attempt rigginging it. From now on we use the local ferry service untill I can afford a better tender!

 

[chrisbitz]

Definitely run it aground or something - it's just too much to do on the water on your first go, especially if you're not sure what's going to happen and how heavy things will be!

One additional thing to watch out for, is when the mast is going up, check the base of the side stays, that they're not kinked. I've bent a couple in my time, by not noticing that they're loose and free as the mast goes up.

 

[jac]

One point to bear in mind if rigging ashore. Look up before attempting to raise the mast.

Worst case is putting the mast into power lines which can really ruin your day but even a low hanging tree, building or other obstacle could be quite annoying!

 

[William_H]

Definitely have another person to help you on the first try. Ideally the mast will have a base that you can pivot it in as it goes up. You can then fit a support at the transom Then as said attach backstay if any and side stays. It can be useful to have a rope or tackle from the end of the forestay to the bow through a pulley or similar so that you can pull the rope from where you are lifting the mast so tighten the forestay remotely.
Just go carefully think about what is going to happen then go for it. Be prepared to drop the mast to fix anything then try again.
good luck olewill