Mast raising mod question

[sunshinecoasting]

I did something interesting on the weekend with my X that I would like feedback on, I dont have the complete MRS, the boat has the pole fixed at the mast foot but the pulleys were missing, I have simply manhandled the mast up each time with the wife pulling on the furler to help a bit until I get it pinned. However it is by far the most annoying part of rigging for me so this weekend I ran a rope from above the baby stay bolt on the mast to the vertical MRS post, then I tied that rope to the hook of my trailer winch which ran up over my anchor roller creating a fulcrum, neither were attached to the MRS pole, just looped over the top of it. I then cranked the winch and the mast raised REALLY easy, I mean it hardly felt like I had tension on there, as the MRS pole got to about 60degrees off vertical it simply fell to the deck (the mast was about 30 degrees from vertical and the winch pulled the mast up so easy it wasnt funny. Then I put a bit of tension on the winch (the ratchet was engaged so it couldnt fall backwards) and I jumped up on the bow and pinned the furler really easily. This worked so well I am looking for something obvious that could go wrong, but I cant see it, I was even able to stop winching when the mast was just off vertical so i culd walk around and check for snags before applying final pressure.

tell me, is this a suitable method or am I missing something really dangerous? If this is suitable then I will swage a couple of thimbles to a steel cable to go from the mast to the top of the MRS pole as a permanant solution and just keep using the trailer winch. As for lowering, I am happy to just do that by hand while helper holds furler off deck, it isnt too heavy that I cant do this from the cabin top.

Your thoughts please?

[mastreb]

The only issue with your method is lowering: The trailer winch is not a brake winch, so it cannot hold the mast on the way down, and I wouldn't recommend trying to lower it with this winch because if you let slip, you won't get your hand on it again and the mast will fall. I've gotten a big bruise on my wrist from that winch pulling around as the boat came off the trailer.

I'm also a little worried about how the line goes over the top of the pole securely: Are you sure there's no possible way that the line could come off the top of the pole while it's under tension? That kind of shock load could break things. Presuming that you've got that covered, I'll sign off on it. I think you could resolve this concern by tying off the line from the mast to the gin pole, and then hooking the gin pole with the trailer winch. This would also prevent the pole from falling. It will take a bit of work to find the perfect rope length.

Otherwise, this method is absolutely fine and in fact the trailer winch is considerably stronger than the winch on the MRS.

[Tomfoolery]

Older crawler-tower cranes used to use what was referred to as the ferris wheel*, which was a set of struts to hold the topping lift away from the tower. Two of the struts were pinned to the jib suspension, but the last would disconnect as the jib was raised and it wasn't needed (and would have been a detriment if still connected).





Notice the small pendants connecting the last strut so it comes back into position as the jib is lowered. You could do something similar so that as you lower the mast, the strut (gin pole) comes into position. You need something on the end of the gin pole to soften the angle, and do be aware that without any mechanical keying of the halyard you're connected to, there is a risk of the gin pole slipping along the halyard and taking itself out of the picture, which would result in an instant and severe overload of the halyard and/or winch and/or any hardware that's holding it in place, like sheaves and their attachments.

And second the caution about trailer winches getting away from you. I've had it happen (not on a mast), and you can end up with broken body parts along with a broken mast and whatever. A brake winch could be used for both the trailer and the MRS, but if buying a new winch, might as well just put it on the gin pole and have an system.


* Many crane part terms are derived from sailboats, like bail, boom, jib, topping lift, and so on.

** In fact, portable ferris wheels used to be erected in a similar fashion, with a strut (figure 2, item 40) and winch line (item 39), with workers sticking the links (items 41) in between the joints to form the perimeter. They opened up like a Japanese fan, with all the parts stacked flat against each other on a center axle. But I digress.

[sunshinecoasting]

OK, all good advice, I intend to make a "T" fitting to slide inside the end of the MRS pole and put rubber on the top of the "T" to give the winch strap something to lay across while the mast is being raised. I wont use this system for lowering, it does introduce danger that is unnecesary. However for raising this seems to be a great solution that doesnt require any extra hardware or expense, it keeps it very simple. The only downside would be that I cant use this system off the trailer (at sea) but I cant imagine why I would want to raise my mast on the water and if I did I can always man handle it like I have been doing so far. Once completed and working well I might post about it in the mods section with pictures.

[vizwhiz]

The old classic system used the mainsheet block/tackle (or boom vang, whichever you prefer) in the place of the winch. In your case, if you ever needed to raise the mast on the water, you could just bring one of the two four-part purchase systems forward and hook one end to the gin pole (since you'll have the fixed cable between it and the mast) and down to the forward deck cleat. Works the same way.