Mast Raising Total Page Hits: 1710
Post Type: Technical/Project
Boat Part: Mast
Date Modified: 04/19/2024 11:14 PM
There are many different mast raising systems used by trailer sailors. Some depend on modifications to the trailer and cannot be used on the water. Others use a gin pole as a lever. The system described here uses a gin pole (maybe that’s not the right term in this application) as a crane or gantry to lift rather than lever the mast. It remains stationary throughout the process; it does not lay down as the mast comes up.
It is a variation of a system sold by BlueWater Yachts for Macgregor boats.
http://shop.bwyachts.com/product-p/3418-1v0.htm
The pole is a 2 x 4, the winch is a brake winch from Northern Tool. I made the line going to the bow cleat a fixed length with an eye spliced in the end to speed set-up. The line from the winch to the mast attaches with a snap hook to a permanently mounted bale about 6’ up. This is also where the baby stays attach. The pole does not attach directly to the mast or step. It has a short cross pice as a foot and just wedges in place at the foot of the mast. Friction holds it in place. I have never had a problem with this or felt the need for a more positive connection after many years of doing it this way on several boats.
The baby stays do not have much load on them, they are there to keep the mast centered. I initially used a strop around the grab rails as the deck attachment point. This worked ok but then I realized that the forward fasteners of the deck organizers were right in line with the mast. I replaced the forward fasteners with eye bolts and put snap fasteners on the bottoms of the baby stays.
I also added a pair of baby stays to the gin pole itself. These are not absolutely necessary but make life a little easier by keeping the pole upright while I set up the rest of the system. To further speed setup I spliced the bottom ends of these stays to the same snap hooks that terminate the mast baby stays.
Edit 4/24
I wanted to make the mast raising rig a little lighter and more compact, so when a local metal supplier had a big sale I bought a 6' piece of 2" aluminum pipe to replace the 2 x 4. The winch bolted right on using a 2" u-bolt and one thru bolt. The tricky part was the base. At first I was going to just put a rubber or plastic cap on the bottom to protect the deck and use some straps to bolt to the tabernacle to keep it all in place. But that turned out to be too complicated. I ended up making a 4" x 4" wood base with an angled hole for the pole. The base was made from 3 layers of 1/2" Baltic birch plywood epoxied together, with the angled hole cut through the top two layers before assembly. To keep the base from sliding sideways I attached another small piece of plywood to the bottom. This piece fits perfectly in the gap between the fore deck hatch and the tabernacle. Short "ears" lock it laterally to the tabernacle. See pictures
A screw hook in the base and a couple of small bungey cords allow the fixed bow line and baby stays to be quickly and neatly secured for storage.