Bayraider Mast Raising System

[Peter Cockerton]

As mentioned in a previous article i am the proud owner of a bayraider which has a one piece 20 odd foot hollow wood mast. When i ordered the boat Matt did ask if i was intending to leave the mast up for the majority of the season as single handed raising was a little on the onerous side especially when you have attempted it three times on the trot following shroud or line tangles. As it turns out i am not leaving my beloved boat at the local reservoir but bringing it back home so thoughts turned to a mast raising system. I have a working system if anyone is interested and it is based on the what i believe is the latest McGregor 26 solution. I did have to modify the mast tabernacle to create a stainless channel to attach two forks for the mast raiser main tube but that was straight forward. In essence the system consists of a length of one and a half inch aliminium tubing with a pair of attachment forks on the end two securing points for wire ropes/chains to provide tensioning lines to the bow cleat, one lifting winch and a pulley block for the winch line to go to the mast. The mast lifts from it's trailering postion to fully vertical with no effort. If anyone would like more information let me know.

Peter

[Julian Swindell]

Hi Peter
Have you seen the "Drifter lifter" that Churchouse Boats use on their Drifter 22? The clever part is using the trailer winch to provide the power.

http://www.drascombe.org.uk/images/Drascombe%20Drifter%20Lifter.JPG

With many of these mast raising systems what you have to watch out for is lateral movement of the mast as the shrouds don't give any sideways support until they are taut. There are all sorts of wierd spider web like solutions to this, but I think the  best idea is to hold onto the mast as you raise it. But you can't do that with the Drifter lifter...

I noticed on another thread somehwere someone suggested a bolt through the tabernacle to hold the mast up. Bad idea. The tabernacle should not be bolted to the boat firmly enought to hold the mast upright, so don't expect it to hold up the mast on its own, even temporarily. The tabernacle needs to be secured very lightly to the deck (or cabin roof in my case) so that should a shroud fail, or the mast swing sideways when being raised, it just pulls the screws out and falls over. If the fixing is too robust, the huge leverage on the mast will rip the top of the boat off, which is a whole lot harder to repair than four small screw holes.

On my boat, I have got a full length carbon fibre mast. I can actually raise that up just by lifting it manually. When it is upright, the shrouds tighten and brace it. I hold it up against their pull by leaning my shoulder on the mast whilst I pull in the jib halyard. Once that is taut and cleated the mast is secure and I can take my time over fitting the forestay and then swigging up the jib as tight as I can.

[Peter Cockerton]

Julian

Thanks for your reply and the issues with lateral movement and forestay issues. Because this system is next to the mast i can guide the mast as it raises and steer it into the tabernacle so "baby stays" are not needed. The idea of the bolt to prevent the mast falling flashed through my mind and left almost as quickly with exactly the concerns you raised.

[Graham W]

Prompted by recent postings over on the Drascombe forum, I thought it might be worth resuscitating this thread after over a decade of dormancy.  Drascombers seem to agree that to make life easier when both raising and lowering the mast in its tabernacle, some sort of sheerlegs or gin pole arrangement helps a lot.  This uses one or two spars at right angles (more or less) to the bottom of the mast to improve stability and leverage both up and down.  In some cases, the trailer winch can be brought into play.  One version is called the Drifter Lifter.

At the risk of repeating what Peter and Julian have said already, whatever system you use, these points are important when manouevring the mast:
* To reduce strain, the boom should normally be detached from the mast
* Avoid tangles when raising the mast.  Tying the strings to the mast at various points immediately on lowering can help stop tangles from developing.  Start at the top of the mast and work along towards the tabernacle from there.  My worst tangles nearly always involve the topping lift getting caught somewhere
* A mast gallows with some sort of padding on its top surface helps cushion the mast on lowering and can also be used to secure it in transit
* Lateral movement of the mast in its tabernacle needs to be avoided to prevent potential damage when both raising and lowering
* The shorter and lighter the mast, the easier the task.  The short mast on a gunter-rigged BR is normally easier to handle than a full length Bermudan version. 

I've got a hollow wooden mast on my gunter-rigged BayRaider and have managed so far with technique rather than lifting systems.  Like Julian, raising the mast is simply a matter of lifting the mast from within the cockpit with one hand and pulling in the slack on the jib halyard with the other, all the time moving forward towards the tabernacle.  The only problems are with tangles impeding progress. 

Dropping the mast is a bit different: I stand on the foredeck with my back to the bow and as I release the jib halyard, I drape the furled jib over my left shoulder to control lateral movement of the mast.  This also helps increase the angle of the halyard to the top of the mast as it lowers towards the gallows, enabling me better to control the rate of descent and guide it to the correct spot.  Like an improvised human sheerlegs.  I have yet to do any of this on the water.

[Peter Cockerton]

Really can't believe that I posted the original article some 10 years ago and my old Bayraider 20, one piece, partially hollowed out 20' wood mast I expect can still lay claim to being the heaviest mast ever fitted to a Bayraider 20. On the plus side the luff groove shaped into the mast allowed the main with its luff rope to easily slide up and down when hoisting and lowering the sail, the main always set beautifully as well especially with the addition of a simple Cunningham.
My new Bayraider 20 with its CF one piece Bermudan type mast has the track and slide system, I have no problems with the raising and lowering of the main but I can see wear on the halyard already which I'm putting down to the entry angle of the halyard to the metal sheave cheek block mounted to the side of the mast.
Excellent points posted by Graham to watch out for on lifting and raising techniques of the mast, from what I can gather the USA, Bermudan main rigged Bayraider 20 with the larger jib set on a bowsprit is becoming the norm now for new orders so more owners will be challenged with single handed issues on this subject., Yes the CF mast is lighter but a number of the mast raising and dropping points are still relevant. I have still managed the 3 lifts and drops to sort rigging tangles, it's not easy on your own to pre-empt all the catch points of the shrouds and lines going up the mast, what I can't understand is before I dropped the mast all the lines were tangle free and routed where I wanted them, sometimes after next outing rigging, the lines manage to be on the wrong side of whatever and get crossed with each other. The tip on tying the strings to the mast on lowering is good but when you remove them before raising they can still fall the wrong side of the tiller, outboard, trailer mud guards etc., etc. With the longer masts raising with one hand whilst tensioning the jib halyard with the other for me is a nonstarter, I have to raise the mast with both hands then hold it vertical with my shoulder and one hand, reach for the jib halyard and tension as best I can with pulling the halyard, gripping the line in my teeth to stop it falling back repeat until all the slack out, then cleat off. Until cleated off the small chance of mast fall due to me slipping or whatever is still there and I really wait to get it cleated off. Later on I tension the halyard with a 3:1 handy billy (separate forestay attached now) attached to the bottom of the tabernacle. On my first BR20 I fitted a single lever clutch to the front of the mast so as I pulled the jib halyard whilst holding the mast up with my one hand and shoulder the halyard slack was stopped from falling back as I grabbed another length of halyard before eventually cleating off. I'm missing this clutch on my new boat but reluctant to install one with lack of knowledge and skills on securing to CF masts. It would be so easy if I could have a simple remote controlled winch somewhere, not to raise the mast but simply to gently pull on the jib halyard and hold it whilst I cleated off.
Off subject for this post but if anyone has a BR20 or BR20 Expedition on order (with a CF mast) consider asking for a CF boom and stack pack. The sail handling is made so easy with dropping and capturing the main into the stack pack. Matt has arranged for the reefing lines to be simply and easily routed to the sides of the boom and the built in Cunningham is an added bonus, this all adds up a very straight forward and fast reefing capability. I can post photos of my arrangement on request if wanted.

Peter  C

[Sea Simon]

... consider asking for a CF boom and stack pack. The sail handling is made so easy with dropping and capturing the main into the stack pack. Matt has arranged for the reefing lines to be simply and easily routed to the sides of the boom and the built in Cunningham is an added bonus, this all adds up a very straight forward and fast reefing capability. I can post photos of my arrangement on request if wanted.
Peter  C

I'd love to know more please Peter.

Fwiw... I take my spinni halyard right ford on the sprit, wrap it around a few times, by the spinni tack eye. This halyard has a clutch, mounted next to the halyard winch. With the spinni halyard secure in the clutch, holding the mast up, I can disconnect the forestay at the sprit, then lower the jib on it's halyard. Having remembered to fit the mast crutch in the mizzen hole (forgotten... once! NOT good!) I can the lower the mast in a very controlled way, one hand on the halyard, the other free for the mast. Lowering the mast, I need to surge the spinni halyard round the winch to keep it well controlled. Putting the mast up, the work is done by the clutch.
This routine is easy enough, even afloat. I did this last week, and the most time taken was getting the boom off, and the sail slides out.

[Graham W]

We think that we have problems with mast raising and lowering.  During the Three Rivers Race in East Anglia, this boat makes the most of its very tall rig.......

[Graham W]

....and is then paddled under this bridge.

[Julian Merson]

But it doesn't always work quite so smoothly...
https://youtu.be/8VO7bKdx-dc

[Sea Simon]

Impressive!

I note the yacht is called "Raisena" and appears to have a crew of maybe 8?

Also, judging by the eager spectators on the bridge, I'd hazard a guess the lower/raise operations doesn't always go well?
Any pics? ?

[Ape Ears]

It looks like they also carry lots of dried fruit for energy. They should not have a problem with manpower RAISINa mast again. At Potter Heigham bridge it is also critical to know the DATE and time due to the tide height and local CURRANTS. That may just be a FIGment of my imagination, but many a true word is spoken INGEST !

[Sea Simon]

But it doesn't always work quite so smoothly...
https://youtu.be/8VO7bKdx-dc

That. ∆