E-27: stepping the mast

[Mitch]

Some of you may remember my adventures last fall in unstepping the mast on my 27 with the help of a local bridge. Now that it is spring, its time to reverse the process...and I'm still too cheap to hire the job out.
So, here is what I'm thinking: What if I were to raft up to some friends, with one boat on either side of mine, and step the mast using their halyards. If the two halyards were trimmed slowly and in unison, it should bring my mast up to where it needs to be, right? The two halyards would lead to a yoke around the mast just below the spreaders, with a line to retrieve them when the job is done.
Of course this is assuming flat calm, no chop, no breeze, and plenty of beer (for afterwards). Has anyone ever done anything like this? Would it be easier and safer to head back to my favorite bridge?


-Mitch
Portland, ME

 

[ref_123]

Physics works against you...

Multiple risks are involved in here, and the biggest one is to catch the spreader in one (or both) of the other boats rigging - remeber, lows of physics will try to bring their masts to yours as close as possible, and you have only your own boat beam witdth worth of of leverage... Which probably could lead to the pulling rigs coming totally together.

So, it all is workable, but you've gotta put A LOT OF BEER on a table. Next to worst case - you will go to your favorite bridge as a trimaran. Totally worst case - one of the guys losing his rig.

On the other hand, I've seen crazier things working out OK. So, good luck. But - to be frank - if it was my boat, and the use of the crane with the good operator is not an option, I would opt for the bridge. While I am not happy to put my own boat at risk, I am much less eager to do so to 2 others...

Regards,
Stanly

 

[Jim Payton]

keep us posted. This is going to be fun. Maybe even get some one to take photos.

 

[Mindscape]

I've seen a mast stepped using an A frame set up that a friend of mine made out out of 2x4's. We used a halyard from a boat directly across the pier (so the two boats were faciing each other). It was a 30' Cape Dory with a deck stepped mast. This allowed them to get the mast up with no yard help, and seems like it might not be as concerning for the other boats involved. If you're interested I can probably get a picture or a drawing.

 

[rssailor]

A-Frame

Building an A-frame to lift the mast up, then pivot it over center and down onto the mast step. This is not hard to do as all you need are two pieces of material approxametly two feet longer than the distance from the base of your mast to spreaders. Aluminum would probably be the best material. Support the A-frame fore and aft, and then carefully raise the mast off the deck with one guy holding the butt of the mast and the other guy lifting the mast up with a purchase system. Would not be difficult at all. Try it and I bet you will like the system and you will have a way to take down your mast if needed in the future. Ryan

 

[Mindscape]

What Ryan described is exactly what the owners of the Cape Dory I mentioned did. They took there mast up and down each season with the A frame.

 

[Bob in Va]

From the peanut gallery

The following applies to raising the mast on the E23, which probably sounds like pretty small potatoes to you guys with bigger boats, but I believe the section is the same as that of the E25 and E27, and it is 29' long so it can still put a dent in anything nearby if not handled carefully. There was originally a mast rasing kit that was an option for that model and for the E25 at least, I believe. Those of us who don't have such a setup have installed a hinge (Dwyer #D2150 @ $55.45),the top plate of which bolts to the bottom of the mast base plate (which must be removed from the cabintop) and the bottom plate of which bolts through the existing holes in the cabintop. Pad the bow pedestal so that it will not be damaged by the mast (I lay a notched 2X4 across mine to distribute the weight on thepedestal) Lowers are not connected at all to the chainplates and uppers are left VERY slack - I added toggles to mine to give more flexibility and gain some length, as the hinge elevates the mast about an inch. The boom is fixed at a right angle in about its normal position on the mast, being secured by the main halyard to the aft end of the boom and that halyard being cleated off VERY SECURELY to a cleat on the mast. The trick is to keep the boom from sliding up or down the mast and from falling off right or left, thus the need of stoppers in the slot on the mast and a bridle attached to the unused inner chainplate holes on the sides and to the mainsheet bail or some other point on the bottom of the boom. Now, with a block at each stern cleat, you can tie a line off at the port stern cleat and run it through a double block hung from the aft end of the boom, aft through the starboard block, forward through the other sheave of the double block, back through the starboard block and forward to a port winch. This gives 4 to 1 through the blocks and about 12 to 1 overall. From the side it looks like a right triangle, and once the mast has been raised a few feet it gets much easier to crank up. The bridle is left a little loose - maybe about 6" of slack on each side - just tight enough to keep the boom from wandering very far sideways. Some guys raise their masts singlehanded, and we have one guy in the association who drops and raises his every time out in order to clear a bridge. I call him sir. Just make sure your double block is attached to the aft end of the boom and not anywhere mid-boom. I tried that while in a hurry one night, stressed and bent the boom, and broke it while racing the next day. Make a string and stick mock up and try it out on your kitchen table to convince yourself it works - you won't try that bridge action anymore once you have used the 'factory' technique. I'll be glad to send some pics and diagrams if you wish.

 

[Bob in Va]

two corrections

two errors are apparent in my previous post: 1. reference is made to the bow pedestal - should be bow pulpit; 2. the 4 to 1 line runs through the PORT block before being led forward to the port winch.

 

[Nick Reynolds]

Mast Raising

I would second some of the comments above about a hinge. If you plan to do this every year, I would suggest you make the effort to add a hinge to the step. In my experience it significantly simplifies the whole process. Most trailerable boats with masts too big to raise wholly by hand use a hinged step and an a-frame to do the entire job. Look at Hunter 240/260 for example, or the trailer-sailor web site for suggestions. This is a heavy mast, but should be a piece of cake for someone with the cojones to have done the bridge thing!

 

[Mitch]

The mast is up. Didn't use the bridge this year, and don't have any plans to take the mast down for the next few years, so I didn't install a hinge.
This year I used one of the tanker piers in Portland that has an overhanging framework. It was just high enough to do the trick.
Thanks,
-Mitch

 

[soup1438]

Getting a rise...

I would think some photos would have been handy... and I would probably not have attempted this w/o someone taking video to send to "America's Funniest Home Videos".

(All right, so my slip arrivals and departures could have sold very well...)

 

[mdgann]

Good Job!!!

I love it whenever I hear of someone with initiative and creativity. It is kind of synonymous with sailing isn't it? Doing things with ingenuity. I especially love beating the system. I am a zero budget sailor and probably enjoy the sport as much as some spending thousands of dollars. Great Job and keep up the good work.

 

[Jim Payton]

Bob

Bob Va, What you are saying interests me. I sail an E26, vintage 1967, I don't think the mast has been down in many years. I will need to change the standing riging some time in the next year. I would like to see some diagrams or pictures of how this system works. Would you be so kind as to maybe draw some or photos and post them somewhere on this web site?