Re: DIY Tartan 27 Mast Unstepping
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Strongly worded, but many good points,?Peter.? On a positive note, I hope some can benefit from my experience with this conundrum. When faced with?removing the keel-stepped mast from my T27, I was unable to find much information on how to accomplish this in a safe and controlled manner,?so I can sympathize with you,?Scott. My boat was in the water, so I wanted to be sure whatever I did would be very stable and controlled. So I worked out this tripod hoist for my own mast hauling, and it worked very well. While I have not done it yet, my rig is designed with sufficient control and stability to re-step the mast, too. The leggs are 1-1/2 electric conduit; two 10' lengths per leg. They are joined with internal?plug connectors of PVC, sliced lengthwise to expand, and with oak driven inside the PVC to set them up tight. The added outside collars are for good measure. I drilled pockets?in some wood scraps for feet. The forward leg went aft of the anchor roller and the port and starboard legs went aft of the chainplates. I tied them off so they would not slide out of place. The apex was in front of the mast. The sling went around the mast as high as I could get it, which was a couple of feet below the balance point of the mast. My tripod was too short to attach at the?balance point of the mast and still have the required 6' of lift. The balance point is just below the spreaders, so, since my strap would have to be lower, I calculated the top-heaviness at about 90#, which is because of the long lever arm of this imbalance. (My recollection is the mast is not anywhere near 300#. More like half that, including wires, winches, etc.) We counterweighted (hugged) the mast at the bottom to keep the mast from swinging down onto the stern rail. This was no problem,?though it did provide the greatest anticipatory adrenaline?rush of the procedure. Next time I will add 2' to each leg to achieve near balance, which would (on a calm day, of course) allow this rig to then be safely used solo! The picture is of the half-legged tripod with a T27 mizzen, just so the arrangement can be seen in action. I have a ratcheting turn-around pulley at the bottom of the near leg, which, in use, I?hooked to the cabin house near the base of the mast. That way I could let go of the rig without any slippage. This proved useful. I'm all for gaining this kind of independence and doing things yourself. Scott, maybe you can build one of these for your?reinstall. I hope my rig helps and inspires others to think through their own safe and controlled mast management. Alan BTW, sadly, my T27 is for sale. 860-572-5722c On Tue, Dec 21, 2021 at 8:21 AM Pete Rebo via <horsehideperfecto=[email protected]> wrote:
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