Stepping the Mast

Hi guys, I am new to hobie cat sailing and am about to purchase my first hobie cat 16. I am a sailing instructor and have sailed many types of mono-hauls before and consider myself a fairly knowledgeable sailor.

That said, I am a bit worried about stepping the mast on my Hobie Cat. I have stepped masts on Laser II's but I imagine the Hobies is a fair bit taller and thus harder. What are some good tips/walkrthoughs/guides for doing so?

What is the most important thing to remember when doing so in order that I do not damage the mast or boat?

Thanks in advance, this appears to be a great community as I have being reading many previous threads.

I'm a beginner... but I've stepped my mast twice now, I did it with one other person both times and was pretty painless. Doing it alone, I would image is a bit of a trick.

The 2 person method that I used was this:

Lay the mast on the tramp with the base of it next to the place in the frame where it goes. I had both my shrouds attached already on the sides. Forestay was loose, but untangled from the jib halyard. One person on the tramp.. that person hooks the safety latch. The other person goes out the back of the boat and starts lifting the mast up as they walk in closer. The other person assists from the back of the trampoline.

As the mast get too high for the person on the ground to assist, the person the tramp takes over and continues to lift it up. The person on the ground goes around to the front to assist. Both times we stepped mine, the base lifted up, but was still hooked, I just had to push it back and down a little and then it easily went up the rest of the way.

As soon as it's up and in place, unhook the safety, check the tension on the shrouds, then hook the forestay up and check the tension once again. I ended up tightening my shrouds one notch from where they were tensioned when I bought it.

If there is a better write up, please post it.

Note: The person on the ground should obviously be making sure the shrouds are not tangled on anything as you are stepping...

I got one of the EZ Mast Stepper, no problem to raise it with one person. You need to put the straps around the front crossbar on a 16 in order to attach to the trapeze wires. Just winch it up while on the trailer.

_________________
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

86 H16

I've created a system which gives a 4:1 advantage over just pushing. Starting with an 80' line attached to the top of the trailer mast holder the line goes through a lightweight turning block attached to the mast tang. It then goes back to a cheek block on the trailer mast holder. Next it returns to another block which I temporarily attach with a velcro strap to the mast about 7' (low enough that it can easily be removed while standing on the tramp) tabove the base. Finally it goes through a cam cleat on the trailer mast holder. Then while one person lifts the mast from the tramp, the assistant, after starting to lift the mast head from the ground behind the trailer, walks around to the front and pulls the line tight through the cam cleat, helping the person on the tramp get the mast all the way up. Once this is done, there is plenty of slack so that attaching the forestay to the adjuster on the bridle is easily done. Finally you pull the 80' line out of all the blocks, remove the velcro'ed block from the mast, and you're ready to go.

Seems like a lot of work... I step my mast with just a little help from one other person.

What happens to the "lightweight turning block attached to the mast tang"...just leave it hanging around/flying high with no purpose??

I can see why you call ureself "Trapezemark"!!!!

Just kidding,,, with boats especialy sailboats there is always a better mouse trap that hasnt been invented..so whatever floats our boats!

U could also use the 3 to 1 purshase of the jib halyard (aussie) clipped to an eye bolt high in the trailer/mast holder post. Thats if the halyard reaches that far forward,(havent tried that idea yet) if not make and extension rope from the halyard shackle to the post to remove after.

thanks!

Do a search on the forum for the mast stepping topic. I have made many posts along with other sailors. This is a popular topic. I will say that I did solo step my H16 mast. I was able to get the boat from trailer to water in under 20 minutes without any help. If you have any detailed questions, please let us know.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I would reccomend a trailer winch and an EZ Stepper or basically any similar system. More important the gin pole to me was the wires that go from the mast to front crossbar for side to side stabilization. This is if you have a mast cradle to put on the rear crossbar or even a life jacket bag, or a way to face the trailer downhill. If you cant get it more than ten degrees of inclination relative to level ground (or the pull of gravity), then a gin pole is necessary.

Then again, if you lift a few weights, and move the cat forward on the trailer so that your rear trailer crossbeam can be used as a good step with alot of leverage, then its possible to just walk it up as well. you just need to have a temporary holding line running from the forestay to a block on the trailer mast cradle to underneath the front crossbar and some way to secure it while you walk around and attach the bridle.

Good luck

_________________
Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"

I Agree, with the EZ Stepper you need to make sure the trap wires that are attached to the straps are fairly snug. That is what minimizes the sideways movement of the mast. I use a spring clip tied onto the main halyard an temp attach it to the bridle adjustor while I then remove the EZ stepper and attach the forstay.

It was also very easy to lower the mast!!

The week prior my wife was guiding it down and lost control of the mast. It got my father in law on the shoulder and knocked him flat down. I was winching after having some heat exhaustion problems after sailing and not drinking enough. (STUPID ME)

After that we decided to always use the Stepper

_________________
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

86 H16

that sounds like something out of Meet the Parents. knocking your father in law straight down on the shoulder while winching...yikes.

_________________
Peter Scranton
'14 Tandem Island "Awesome"
'03 Windrider Rave "Menage a Trois"

This reminds me of a week ago when my son and I decided to unstep the mast without the EZ stepper. Wrong idea. I lost control of the bottom kicking out (yes, I was prepared for it). Luckily, our convertible rabbit was behind and took the brunt of the crash before it kicked off onto the tarmac. All I found was one little scratch on edge of the masthead truck. That, and my chin is still sore from the bottom end flying up and striking me.

Ouch!! I have a Hobie Bob on the end of the mast so luckily it hit on that so the mast didnt get damaged, just my father in law. The EZ Steppers are great.

_________________
It's such a fine line between stupid and clever.

86 H16

I nearly clobbered a friend of mine when I got him to lower the mast after we had a violent pitchpole and one of my hands was injured. How? Forgot to put the pin in the stepping link! Not a recommended way to learn to not do that but very effective nonetheless. Amazing that the mast nor the boat showed any signs of damage.

Another mast stepping tip: Don't forget the mast bearing. Now how to keep it from pushing out to one side or another of the cup is beyond me.

To keep the mast chip in plce while stepping do the following:

1) get a drill with a bit that is 1/8" diamter.
2) drill 2 or 3 holes in the bottom of your mast step about 1/8" deep. This is just past where the drill points turns into the shaft.

This will give the chip something to "grab" onto when you start to put the mast up. I was able to trailer many hundreds of miles without removing the chip with this modification.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO

I damn near killed our comodor's wife this last weekend doing the same thing.

As soon as Ohhh Sh?ttttt came out of my mouth, she took off running.

Good thing.

Sam