1st Try at stepping the mast, ug!!

[rbaroni]

Tried stepping the mast of an Ericson 23, which has a very beefy mast for a smaller boat, 3.25"x 6.5"x28'5". Tried the method of using the boom placed perpendicular to the mast, each side of the boom guyed off to chainplate attachment points on the port and starboard side of boat. The mainsail halyard tied off to the top of the boom, then a pulley system to pull the boom aft which lifts the mast. Things went well as the mast lifted, until it got out of the lateral resistance provided by the bow support. Then it swung to the starboard side of the boat, taking with it the boom, and causing my heart to pound excessively.
Conclusions: The guylines or morley lines that attach to the boom which keep it centered, need to be cable or something that doesn't stretch, (I used 3/8 nylon). Even something rigid would be better. Also, I have a tabernacle and a pin type mast attachment, I think a mast hinge would help to keep the mast from swinging left or right as it was lifted.
Any thoughts, I'd appreciate. I'm going to resort to what my friend has said for this time, get six guys and heave it up.

[David Luckenbach]

I hope you watch ALL of my mast raising videos, in the Video section of Sailing Texas www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/sailingvideosindex.html. There are many ways to do it and many different systems. I think what you want is a system for YOUR boat, and I've never done an Ericson 23.

You want to guy off the MAST, much more than the boom. The Macgregor 26 system has two "baby stays" that attach about 3 feet up the mast and to the deck, and you can see in the video the boom is not guyed www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/Macgregor26Me/macgregor26me.html. The Hunter 23.5 also has baby stays, and the boom fits into a hole in the mast. Several othe boat systems do not guy the boom but do the mast. Their boom is strong enough to stand on it's own, the Rhodes 22 www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/Rhodes22c/srhodes22c.html is another example. The baby stays keep the mast fairly straight as it goes up, eventually the shrouds get tight and hold the mast, on most boats you can attach two shouds before raising the mast.

The Flying Scot system uses a bipod instead of a boom, so it is more stable, having two legs. I use a line clipped to two eyes on the deck, tied in the middle, run through the spinnaker ring and tensioned with the main halyard to keep the mast straight as it goes up. To see 120 pound Alison raise the mast entirely by herself see www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/FlyingScotMast/mastsystem.html

One system for the Hunter 23, uses two pieces of conduit to make a bipod, attached to the stanchions with rubber coated clamps. See www.sailingtexas.com/Movies/Hunter23lowermast/hunter23lowermast.html fora video of lowering the mast on the Hunter 23. A friend of mine has this system, and he doesn't use baby stays. He has someone stand in the thingypit and hold the mast staight as it goes up or down.

Having 6 people manhandle it is good, if it's not too windy, but what if you want to go sailing and they are not there?

Reminds me of the J/24 racers. The J/24 mast rests on the keel, so you MUST pick it straight up, and lower it straight down through the deck. Usually done with the boat club mast hoist.

But some clubs do not have hoists, and sometimes your boat is in the water (remember that one, Charlie?), so the J/24 system is a "gin pole", usually an old mast. From high on this gin pole are attached three GOOD lines, and a block for the mast raising line. After standing the gin pole on a piece of carpet or wood or something to protect the deck, two equdistant lines are attached to the shrouds abaft of the mast. The third line, sometimes with a block and tackle, is attached to the bow chainplate and tensioned, so the gin pole is positioned properly to raise the mast.

The end of the mast raising line is tied with a bowline loosely around the mast just below the spreaders, and another line is tied to this so we can pull this bowline back down the mast when we are done.

Pulling on the mast raising line raises the mast. One person guides the mast into the hole in the deck while the other lets it down, and rests the bottom of the mast in the position they want it.

Of course, I have heard, although I've never seen it, that the Australians have a different system for the J/24. They just pick up the mast and stick it in the boat.

Hope this helps,
David