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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

Catalina 25 Specific Forum

How to set up an EASY raising/lowering of mast

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Nikki
Deckhand

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1 Posts

Initially Posted - 04/02/2005 : 23:18:16

I'm looking to buy my 1st sailboat to cruise the Great Lakes (main port either Port Huron or Bay City, MI). I want to be able to trailer to other Great Lakes destinations. Since I will be single-handing most of the time and am not the strongest woman in the world, I need to find out the easiest way to raise and lower the mast by myself. (And any contacts as to who I could hire to initially set this up for me.)
This sight is great and because of it I plan to buy a Catalina 25 because I know I'll have many questions as I sail along! Thanks

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 04/02/2005 : 23:49:01

I have bolted a vertical mast-raising 'boom' to the winch-frame on the front of my EZ-Loader trailer. Slip a halyard line through a block mounted to the top of it and run the line back to a primary winch on the cockpit coaming. Put three wraps on the winch and grind away to raise the mast... reverse the process to lower it. (I also have an extendable mast crutch called a 'mast-up' that helps this process).

The whole set-up is very similar to the one provided on new C250 models.

Downside of the trailer-mounted 'boom' is that it doesn't do you any good if you want to raise or lower the mast out on the water. Upside is that you don't have any extra stuff to carry with you (the A-Frame). On my next maintenance haul-out (coming soon) I'll take some photos of this process and post them. There are already other articles posted here on constructing/using the A-frame.

I believe some members on this site are in the process of organizing a Catalina 25/250 Great Lakes cruise...

Edited by - on

Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 04/03/2005 : 09:26:33

Check out the tech tips -- one of them explains how to lower the mast FORWARD using your mainsheet and the boom as a gin pole. I've done this many times. You don't need any additional hardware.

On the other hand, the C25 mast is pretty heavy, and it helps to have someone available to guide the mast up and down. If you're cruising as a single, you might want to look at a C22 or other boat that would be easier to get on and off the trailer. The C25 is at the upper limits of trailerability -- you need a BIG truck to pull it. There are folks on this forum who trailer regularly, but my observation is that the trailer is more realistically used for storage in the off season. We all love our boats and defend them, but if you're a smallish single woman who really wants to trailer, this might be more boat than you need.

Brooke

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ClamBeach
Master Marine Consultant

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3072 Posts

Response Posted - 04/03/2005 : 16:12:34

>The C25 is at the upper limits of trailerability

Indeed... there's a interseting 'phenonema' about boats such as ours.
It is called the 'apparent size' paradox. (Bott's Postulates)

Postulate 1 -------------------------------

The further from shore you get... the smaller they get.

Observed effect: A C25 30 miles from shore has an APPARENT LENGTH of 7.7 feet.
Note: This effect is enhanced by approximately 32% in the absence of sunlight.

Postulate 2 -----------------------

When approaching a slip, a vessel doubles in beam.

Observed effect: When entering a 12' wide slip, the C25 will have an APPARENT BEAM of 16'.
Note: This effect is enhanced by crosswinds, tide, passengers and number of observers.
(see 6a)

Postulate 3 ----------------------

When on a trailer, the mass of a C25's increases by the speed of light squared.

Observed effect: When trailered, a C25 has the APPARENT MASS of an adult Blue Whale.

---------------------------

Other postulations.... (unproven by science at this date)

4a) Mast height increases as you approach a bridge.
4b) Mast height increases as you attempt to raise it.
4c) The mass of the mast increases in inverse proportion to the number of people assisting.
5a) The draft of the boat increases in inverse proportion to the depth of the water.

6a) Bott's certainty principle:
The probablility of an undesirable outcome is proportional to the number of observers present.

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Gloss
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1916 Posts

Response Posted - 04/03/2005 : 16:24:13

That's too funny, Bruce.

When I was at the University of Florida school of Building construction (class of 73) we has some other therums and postulates, but this is a family site, so I won't bring them up.

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Benge
Deckhand

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USA
8 Posts

Response Posted - 04/03/2005 : 17:47:51

That was great. Now I have to figure out how to print it. My boat has not been off the trailer yet since I have owned it but that is what I have said, it looks big on the trailer and small on the water. You took that to a much higher level. You, I hope to sail with some day.

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Dave Laux
Captain

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318 Posts

Response Posted - 04/03/2005 : 20:44:47

Nikki,
You have two basic problems with raising the mast on a Cat 25. The mast is actually sort of light for this size vessel so that is not one of them.
The first is that you have to move the mast, back usually, into position for raising it. This can be done fairly easily by placing it on a post at the back of the boat with a roller on the top of it.
The second and more difficult to deal with problem is that when the mast is nearly horizontal all of the rigging that supports the mast in the side to side direction is quite loose due to the geometry of the rig. This requires either a second person up on the deck of the boat who can prevent the mast from swinging to one side or, if it was necessary to raise the mast single-handed, you would have to provide auxiliary chain plates that are in line with the pivot bolt that the mast turns on at the mast step. Another solution to this problem is to make an A frame that will hold the raising line high enough to cause gravity to keep the mast on center. This works but requires carrying around more stuff.
On our boat I guide the mast through the early portion of its arc as it goes up and the final part as it comes down and my wife, Donna, turns the boat trailer winch to actually raise or lower the mast.
When you find your boat you will have to look at it and its equipment to see what modifications might be required to make mast raising and lowering easy for you to do.
Pleae get some one with Cat 25 experience or a surveyor to look at any boat before you buy it. We just had a thread a month ago about a boat that should have received closer scrutiny prior to purchase.
There is no reason that a reasonably fit woman can't do this. The trimaran that I am designing ( 27 feet long)is set up so that all operations on the boat can be done by a reasonably fit woman .
One thing I should point out though is that the RFW needs a big pickup truck (I use a GMC 2500 9000 lb. GVW)to haul one of these.
Good luck, Dave

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tmhansen
Captain

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USA
397 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 01:00:15

With regards to mast raising - my personal preference is for the A Frame. With a roller furler I don't think you can step the mast forward. I leave the jib rolled up on the furler to trailer with no problems other than it adds weight to the mast raising process. I have found that tying the drum to the A frame makes it much easier to control the mast and furler, I can do it myself. I use a winch mounted on my mast to raise and lower the mast. I like to raise the mast on the water where I feel much safer than up on the trailer. This also allows me to arrive at a ramp at night, launch the boat and go to bed in a slip or at anchor and then raise the mast in the morning. The whole process takes a while. I have stepped the mast by myself but it is much nicer to have a helper, same for launching.

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John J.
Navigator

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USA
157 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 05:20:43

On my '81 S/K the PO installed some sort of fitting at the base of the mast which accepts the gooseneck of the boom, allowing the boom to act as a gin pole. There are also a couple of rings mounted to the deck, ( one on each side of the mast base). These rings accept two bridles which are also snapped to the boom and the mast. This year my plan is to hook a line to the gin pole and tie it to one of the towing hooks on my Yukon, and simply back the truck up while the boat is on the trailer. I have a tall rig and last year I put the mast up manually with two strong 18 yr. old boys, and it was a job. If you plan on doing this alone, I think I would stay with a standard rig.

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Dave Laux
Captain

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318 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 06:48:22

John J,
Use the trailer winch. Tying the rig to your truck sounds like one of the dumbest ideas that I have heard lately. Talk about possibilities for a serious F up. Dave

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tzk53s
1st Mate

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USA
33 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 15:04:40

I belong to the Port Huron Yacht Club, great club with slip prices 1/2 of municipal plus beer&drinks at $0.50, we are a all volunteer club. Anyway, if you need assistance the first time in getting your mast up and you end up in Port Huron I will help you with it. E-mail me at pakaleus@alldial.net, fair winds.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 15:11:47

build the A frame. Check this out:

http://www.indiscipline.org/cat25/launch.html

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John J.
Navigator

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USA
157 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 18:34:33

Dave, Thanks for your candid advice on my original mast raising system. But there's no need to be bashful, if you don't like my idea, just say so. Actually I do appreciate the feedback. I'm still new to most of this and in the early phase of the learning curve.I've seen lots of refeerence to the A-frame, and thanks to your post,Jim, and photos, I FINALLY have the idea how it works,( I think). Are you using the trailer winch to do the lifting?

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Dave Laux
Captain

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318 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 19:46:13

John J,
Good to see you have a sense of humor. I do tend to be more direct than maybe I should. In any case, yes, we use the trailer winch to put ours( mast) up. Its easy and works fine and if something is not right its possible to communicate with whoever is turning it easily. I will say that I could easily envision some really lively results from your first proposal. The mast and rigging of a Cat 25 probably weights 100+ lbs. so I'm going to say that the max force depending on the ofset between the headstay and the mast is about 400 lbs with the mast horizontal. It decreases rapidly as the mast goes up. The best set up is one of the trailer winches that is called a brake winch, you have to turn it to make it go out or up.I added a cross bar to our pulpit about 6 inches from the front. This I use as the turning point for the winch strap to raise the mast and it gets the bow light back out of danger. Dave

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stampeder
Master Marine Consultant

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1608 Posts

Response Posted - 04/06/2005 : 22:44:19

I built and used the A-frame as discussed here a couple weeks ago - lowering the mast was easy, Retrieving the boat was easy. Trailering it 500 miles was uneventful. Launching at the new location went smooth.
When I raised the mast, I had some difficulty getting the base of the mast into the tabernacle. The problem was, I used the forstay and that meant I had to recruit a couple gorillas to lift the mast - Once I got the mastbase into the tabernacle, it went smoothly. So, next time, I'll use a halyard....my question is; how exactly is the (jib?) halyard attached? Is the cockpit end secured to the mast base?

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wmeinert@kconline.com
Past Commodore

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USA
353 Posts

Response Posted - 04/07/2005 : 16:40:26

I know your pain, as single handed sailor out of Indiana I have found don't build, rig or buy anything to raise your mast ecept the following!!

<b></b>ICE COLD BEER!!!!! I guarentee you the nast will go up very qickly.

Bill Meinert

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Happy D
Admiral

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921 Posts

Response Posted - 04/07/2005 : 17:46:31

And now I understand why my trailer came with an electric winch.

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John V.
Admiral

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USA
559 Posts

Response Posted - 04/08/2005 : 14:41:15

Hi Nikki,

Welcome to the group, as you have seen there is a lot of good advice here on the forum and mast raising is certainly a topic that will bring out a lot of comments. I would only like to add that the A frame needs to be made of heavy tubing, not light conduit, or aluminum.

If you are going to be in the great lakes why don't you join up with our newly forming Upper Lakes Cruising Group. This June we will be joining sailing around the Keewenaw Peninsula and in 06 we plan a cruise of the North Channel. It's much more fun to pull your boat from Port Huron to Spanish Ont. and launch there than it is to slog your way up lake Huron for three days or more just to get into the beautiful cruising areas. If you teach school as I do you can take the whole summer on the boat.

anyway welcome, and let us know when you want to trailer and we will help you cruise Superior or the NC.

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