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Sonata Sailing

National One-design Cruiser/Racer

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going up the mast

7th April 2007

sheldon

7th April 2007 at 10:28 PM

Has any body ever gone up there mast on a sonata , can it take your weight .

im twelve stone and need to replace a bulb . I dont want to have to pay to have the mast lowered

lastorders

9th April 2007 at 12:34 PM

i’m about 11 stone and have been up there a couple of times but don’t feel all that comfortable once above the forestay

attachment as I use the genoa halyard as a safety line. This was in a marina too, watch out for people returning from

the toilets and stepping on to the sidedeck while your up there, you can get quite close to the rig next door!

We lower our mast by hand by attaching a block to the forestay attachment in the bow well and slowly let the mast drop

back, three people and a bit of practice no problems.

Steven Rolland

9th April 2007 at 10:59 PM

Yes it will take your weight okay.

As lastorders says though, if you are uncomfortable then just drop your mast to do it. With practice you can have it down and up again in about 30mins. In addition to the block that lastorders uses, we also employ an A-frame. This helps once the mast approaches the horizontal, and the initial lift when raising. I will attach a diagram if I get time later in the week.

Steven Rolland

9th April 2007 at 11:20 PM

Here are some rubbish sketches to explain my crazy a-frame set up. If have any questions, let me know.

I am having trouble with attachments. Ignore the BMP file. I accidentally attached it and can’t loose it.

sheldon

1st May 2007 at 9:53 PM

Thank you for you replies. Just one more question – do I need to detach the shrouds or will it just lower down using the forestay leaving these connected?

Steven Rolland

5th May 2007 at 12:24 AM

Thank you for you replies. Just one more question – do I need to detach the shrouds or will it just lower down using the forestay leaving these connected?

On the way down you can leave them connected. As the mast goes back they will slacken. Loosen the bottle screws before raising though. Not sure whether it was just a typing error, but you lower the mast with the jib halyard. The forestay is disconnected once the halyard is to take its place.

Filed Under: Archives, Forum Archive, IPB Archive

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