This has got to be the best mod to ever show up on this sight. Can't wait to convert my system over. By the time I get done running up and down from the deck to the cockpit and back ten or more times to fight the furled genni I'm exhausted. If I used the old block and tackel insted of the new single block wouldn't it make it even easier to crank the mast? Just a thought.
I found that I can wrap my unused jib halyard around the pulpit and connected to the base of the fuler to raise/lower the mast. This allows me to use the winch and it keeps the furler from hitting the deck. Just another possibility if you don't want additional equipment on board.
I do have the BWY mast raising kit installed so my mast is prevented from falling to the side by "shrouds" mounted to the side of the mast hinge point. Additionally, I installed an adjustable backstay that is loose while raising.
If you are using the factory mast raising gear correctly, your jib halyard will not be unused. The jib halyard is run to the end of the gin pole in the top loop and is cleated off to form just less than a 90 degree triangle. The mast raising tackle goes from the bottom of the gin pole end to the loop on the deck. The tackle tail is run back along the deck to the starboard winch. The only halyard that is 'free' is the main halyard. Do not use the main halyard at the top of the mast with the mast raising system. By the way, the baby stays on each side of the mast are part of the factory mast raising kit. They do not come from BWY.
Duane Dunn, Allegro wrote: .... The jib halyard is run to the end of the gin pole in the top loop and is cleated off to form just less than a 90 degree triangle.
.... The tackle tail is run back along the deck to the starboard winch.
Hmmm ... I've always used the portside winch. Don't know why, just do. And I prefer to attach both ends of the jib halyard to the tip of the gin pole. Just don't trust those plastic mast cleats.
Bham wrote: .... found that I can wrap my unused jib halyard around the pulpit and connected to the base of the fuler to raise/lower the mast. This allows me to use the winch and it keeps the furler from hitting the deck. Just another possibility if you don't want additional equipment on board.
Are you leading the jib halyard over the pulpit and back to the furler drum, with the lazy end led direcly to a cabin winch??? It's a great idea for managing the furler drum, but it seems too little leverage to me, unless I was basically lifting the mast for the first 6 feet. Also I don't think I'd use the pulpit to take the winch tension of raising my mast. And when time came to crank it down for final pinning, I've already released the halyard from the furling drum? I cannot quite picture your process ... but it's those final two inches to pinning when I have gonzo tension on the raiser system. Depending on rig tension, your mileage may vary.
Good grief. Just wrap the furler drum in a little sports/golf towel and put a tiny bungee on it and control it's movement with the furler line, the line you wrap the furler up with.
I too would love to step up the mast w/o the block & tackle, but w/ a roller furling there is no way to get the forward pressure on the mast in order to get the furler attached. I may need to modify my raising kit too, this looks like a good one!
Steve
I use the port side winch too...in fact, I thought that is what it says to do in the manual. I guess in reality, its whatever side is "cleaner". I have my rope clutches, CB line, and furler line on the starboard side so Port makes more sense for the mast raising line.
I agree about not trusting the plastic cleats. I cleat the halyard on the plastic cleat and then take the tail and tie a quick knot to the vang bail as a back up.
I don't think it really matters which winch you use, for me the starboard one just seems the easiest. Probably just habit.
Also just a reminder, never trust the cam cleat at the winch to hold the line when you stop to fix snags. Always take the tail from the winch and cleat it off on the aft dock cleat. You may think you're careful, but someday you will knock the line loose from the cam cleat and the mast will come down.
I almost always have my wife helping, so she tends the furler drum using the furler line from her position on the trailer tounge where she then pins the headstay once the mast is up.
Another trick is to stretch a bungee from the bow pulpit to the bottom of the furler drum. As the mast goes up it will pull the drum forward keeping it off the deck.
When I got my boat, the first couple times I raised the mast, I used the cleats. After reading the warnings on this board, and realizing it was just a couple wimpy screws holding those cleats in, I untied it from the cleats and put a bow line around the vang bail like Duane was saying.
After reading Tripp Gal's comments about breaking strength though, I now wonder whether thats the best way to do it. There is a ton of tension on that line right before I pin the forestay (with furler, 150, and U/V cover on it) and I frequently wonder if its enough to snap the line? Or for that matter, the jib halyard block or attachment hardware. I'm planning to inspect this stuff now that the mast is down for a while, but I was just wondering if any of you do anything about that...like using a thimble at the end of the line, etc.
As for looping the cleats and then tying it to the bail, I'm not sure if there is enough length in my stock jib halyard to do that...doesn't seem like I have much excess at all. Also, I would be worried that if the cleat did separate, there would be such a backlash in the line (caused by the slack catching the mast), that even if it is tied off at the bail, something might still break. This is why I tie it to the bail only.
Well guys, after three plus years of raising my mast, with the 150 RF genny with sock, I continue to use the jib halyard cleated to the wimpy plastic cleat held to the mast with the wimpy screws.
The cam on the winch (starboard for me) holds everything just fine with no additional cleating, until the forestay is pinned. With an extra turn on the winch drum there is very little tension on the cam; I can easily tail the line with two fingers.
My rig is very tight; I crank the rasing system quite tight, then use an auxiliary, foot powered "stretcher" on the furler drum to help me stretch the forestay enough to get the pin thru the holes.
If the extra precautions make you feel safer, I can't argue. For me, not necessary.
I'll let you know as soon as my mast falls down. I advise you not to hold your breath while waiting.
I found that once the mast is all the way up using the mast raising system, it will take very little force to keep it up.
So before, I tension the jib halyard in order to pin the forestay, I cleat off the furling line. If the cleat were to break, it would likely occur during the final tensioning of the forestay. With the furling line cleated, the mast will hopefully remain up.
I haven't learned how to use this post very well yet so I don't know how to paste others comments.
However, to answer Frank C. You are correct about the initial tension. I do raise the mast for the first several feet by hand. At this point, the tension on the pulpit is minimal. As for final pinning; since my aft stay is loose, I am able to pin the furling drum without any leverage other than my wimpy arms. Maybe my rigging is too loose?? I suppose if your rigging is too tight to do this, you could disconnect the jib halyard from the furler and secure it to the questionable cleat to add leverage?
Regarding Duane Dunn, Allegro's comments, as I stated previously, I am not using the mast raising gear. That's the point!
Note that I have a longer than stock jib halyard which allows me to use this method.[/quote]
I'm not saying the cam cleat can't take the tension, which is high up to about half way, then high again when tensioning to get the pin in. It not a strength issue, it is a security issue.
Bluewater Yachts has replaced a number of masts over the years which were damaged when the raising line slipped out of the cam cleat by accident and the mast fell. I know Bill at "Boats for sail" has also said he experienced the same thing. This is most likely to occur when the mast is partially up and the person stops to go walk around the deck and free a snag of side stay. The cam cleat is plenty strong, but it is not secure. Accedentially snag the tackle line with a foot or anything else and it will easily slip out of the cam cleat. It shouldn't happen, but it does.
For me, taking the tail back to the dock cleat and wrapping it there takes all of 5 seconds and is a much more safe and secure way to fasten the tail. Why take the risk.
Can't wait to convert my system over. By the time I get done running up and down from the deck to the cockpit and back ten or more times to fight the furled genni I'm exhausted. If I used the old block and tackel insted of the new single block wouldn't it make it even easier to crank the mast? Just a thought. 
And I prefer to attach both ends of the jib halyard to the tip of the gin pole. Just don't trust those plastic mast cleats.
