raising the mast

hello, just a reminder i am brand new to sailing, any suggestions to raising the mast by myself on my CM26. i tried to search here but i didn't find anything yet. any suggestions would be great, thanks

If it's your first time, I would get a helping hand until you get the hang of it.
My wife and I raise ours in minutes.

Leave the backstay, shrouds and rear lowers attached. These will help guide you into place. We take the main sheet and attach it to the forestay. Then I lift the mast while she takes up the slack with the main sheet, keeping it locked all the way up.

thanks, when u say the main sheet, this is the pully set up that is on the bottom of the boom that hooks to the traveler? also u hook the forstay to this, where on the boat? at the bow where the forstay attaches?( sorry but i'm not sure of all of the terms yet) in other words using the mainsheet as a separate pully system. I tried to set up a pully at the bow and run a rope to the mast and then aft like a jib sheet but didn't have much luck. thanks for the patience i'm sure it will all make sense soon i hope. it did seem to me that using a pulley wasn't going to be much help until the mast was up past 45 degrees, does that sound right.

Yes, that is the main sheet that attaches to the boom.

I attach the main sheet to the end of the forestay and the pulley end of the main sheet attaches to the bow of the boat where the forestay attaches.

You are right about the pulley doing much until the mast is at an angle so you either need to rig a gin pole (google it, there are videos online) or do like I do and have someone lift the mast while the other pulls the main sheet.

When you raise the mast, called stepping the mast, one thing you notice, is you are looking up quite frequently, while your boat is several feet off the pavement sitting on a sailboat trailer. The trailer is wobbly, and that pavement is hard as concrete. Landing on your head, with a mast soon to follow would send you to a hospital with life threatening injuries.



The easiest way to step the mast, is to launch the boat, with the mast ready to step, on the deck.

At the docks, you have finger docks on each side of the boat, and a boat on water is just as stable, or more so, as a boat on a trailer. The finger docks are a good working height to access any part of the sailboat. Much safer.

Step the mast so the mast goes up from the main dock, that is how we do it. Very easy. Much better than way up in the air from a trailer.

This is a pretty good video, from a parking lot. Wherever you are the most comfortable.

This is a totally different way to raise and lower a mast which also works very well.

I always preferred to step my mast on stable ground vs on the water.

On deck you are standing either next to the mast or in the cockpit. You have 4 feet of boat in either direction. The boat ramp I use is very busy with lots of traffic and barges that cruise by often. That makes for some fairly big wakes and a very unstable surface to lift that heavy mast from.

If you are launching from a flat lake it might be different but even in that situation these boats aren't very heavy and can lean over more than 5 degrees just from the weight of your body moving towards the edge.

I think solid ground safer than the water. But that is just my take on it.

Yes, calm water would be a must.

Stepped four masts this season, half on land and half on calm water. One problem I have is I do not do ladders. Three rungs and I am all done. So on land, I am ground crew only. On water, I can help do more.

Another reason to become familiar with mast stepping in the water is if you do any sailing where you might find a bridge or two that is lower than your mast. Not the case for me, stay on one lake is the plan for. Now.

great info thanks a bunch, i'm really glad i found this site, you all have really helped a lot and i'm just getting started. who knows one day this old girl might even get spashed as u say! i will get to work on the gin pole right away it looks like the way to go to get started. much more to follow i'm sure, everybody enjoy your weekend when u get to it.

Dont know if it was mentioned yet but lowering the mast is far more tricky until you get the secret to it.

I have my wife hold the mast while I unattached all the shrouds leaving the backstay.
Then I loosen the bolt at the base of the mast, but keep it in as a guide.
Then we replace spots as I hug the mast she returns to the cockpit.
Next I place the mast in between my neck and shoulder and lean into it until I have good control of it. I begin slowly backing up pivoting it on that bolt. I keep slowly backing up and lowering it until my wife can get in in the cockpit.

Its not difficult to do just scary in high winds and as a side note. I don't connect the shrouds during stepping the mast it wont work. I simply connect the back stay keeping the pivot bolt loose while walking it up.

it's up!! and no crash or anything. i did make a gin pole and it worked really well, i also got some help for this first time and it was good advice. even got the sails raised and other then some stains they seem to be ok. thanks again!

Congrats!! Now lets see some pictures.

i will try to figure out the pics again, i tend to lose patience quickly on computers and the like, but i will try again!