Hobie Cat Forums

SO, I've looked at all of the options for putting up your mast solo, but I don't like the options.

For me solo mast stepping is not a matter of strength its just that I want to be able to sail by my self.

Here's my idea, take a hand winch like this one:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000NPR3FM/ref ... wo=&hvqmt=

Then make it rewind it self using a "power spring", like the spring that rewinds your lawn mower pull string. like this:http://www.vulcanspring.com/stock-power-springs.

When you left the mast the winch cable slack will be taken up and the winch cable attached to the for stay will be locked by the winch ratchet. They you just walk around to the front of the boat, and attach the bridle.

Mast Stepper III is the only way to go IMHO. It's safe and it works.

Thanks but I've already seen the options. I'm not at all happy with the mast stepper system designs and process. I'm looking a new more simple and safe solution.

What you need is something that doesn't add a bunch of extra set up time to the rigging of the boat.

You know what happens when you cut corners. Those little bits all serve a purpose. Once it's set up and you're familiar with the system, it's not much of a hassle.

Back when i had my getaway I stepped the mast a couple of times by myself. I used a line to extend the main halyard and tied it to the cross bar, then I snugged up the halyard on the mast cleat and cleated it off. Pulled the forestay pin, climbed on the trampoline uncleated the halyard and then walked the mast down. Reverse procedure to put the mast up. The only challenge I had was getting the rig tensioned so that it wasn't sloppy. I had a winch on my trailer by the forward mast support, so once the mast was up I pulled the trapeze lines forward connected them to the winch applied gentle pressure and adjusted the forestay. This way I could have both side stays already set. Worked well for me and I'm not a big guy. Cost effective and the only setup time is two knots.

Cheers

I have the Mast Stepper III which is what I usually use. I stepped it up and down a couple of times by hand when I had help and had the Bob off. When I tried to step it by hand with the Bob on, I could not lift the mast above my knees. Didn't think the Bob would make that much difference!

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Yet another Bob!

Thanks for the replies. Happy Sailing.

One problem with my mast stepper III - the bungee is too long. It's a hogring clamped piece of elastic, and the loop is about 4" too long, so I have to double it around the stub on the foot that seats on the mast. That makes it really difficult to fit the gin pole onto the stub, and hard to pin the gin pole to the stub.

So here's the solution I came up with. Leave the foot pinned to the gin pole (That will save me a good 5 minutes of fighting with the bungee loop and the gin pole). Use a regular heavy duty bungee (one with a hook on each end) and wrap that around the foot holding it down to the mast.

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Yet another Bob!

I used to raise and Lower my mast solo with no issues and no extra hardware.

Here's what I did:

Keep the boat strapped to the trailer during this procedure...

1. Set the mast up laying on its side on the tramp/hanging off the back of the boat.

2. Tie the jib sheet around the mast about 5 feet up from the base (you could attach an extra cleat to the mast for added safety)

3. Run the jib sheet through the eyelet on the trailer's mast stand and then back through the cleat for the jib sheet.

4. attach the trailers winch to the forestay.

5. Step back up onto the tramp and start to walk the mast up. until the shrouds are tight

6. grab the jib sheet with your toes and pull it tight through the cleat

7. once it's tight enough you can let let go of the mast since the jib sheet will be holding it up.

8. take up the slack in the forestay using the trailers winch

9. pin the forestay

10. untie jib sheet and proceed as normal.

I used to do this often and never had an accident...the only tricky parts was grabbing the jib sheet with your toes! I used to grab the sheet between my big toe and the one next to it.