Mast cradle for an 18

I'm not confident in the mast cradle that came with the boat, and am asking if the members here have ideas for a mast cradle for an 18 - homemade or store-bought.

I ended up putting an aft mast stand on my trailer. Now I don't have to worry about a fancy way to attach a cradle to my aft crossbar. It also gives the mast just enough height that I can use my trailer winch to raise the mast instead of having to start it my self.

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Nick

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

I bought an outboard motor support similar to this:
http://www.boatersoutlet.com/index.asp? ... ProdID=645

The height is adjustable. One end sits on the rear trailer beam. The other end is "V" shaped, has rubber bumpers and is adjustable. It fits my 18 mast perfectly with the sail track pionting down. I found one for under $30 at a sproting goods store.

Todd

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c259/nytelyter/rearmastsupport.jpg
i made this for mine and it is a huge help when you go to tarp it for storage too

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paul
1981 Hobie 18 "Knot A Clew" sail #5445

We also show a trailer mast support fro the rear in the new (2007-08) parts catalog.

http://static.hobiecat.com/2010_archive/support/pdfs/07_34-35.pdf

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I built my own rear cross bar mast support out of scraps I had around my garage. The base is cut from a piece of PVC pipe. A section cut from it along it's long axis to make a base. The upright is made from a piece of Teflon (an old cutting board). If I were to make this again I’d us a fatter upright to provide more support. (But I used what I had.) The top on the upright is padded with clear tubing.

link to Photo:

http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z87/ ... aaed48.pbr

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John Latimer
'79 Hobie18 - Magnum
Sail#4854

Thanks, everyone. I like the mast stands that attach to the rear crossbar of the trailer, but how is it rotated out of the way to take the boat off?

Matt, does the Hobie version put the mast high enough to be able to step the mast from a winch on the front mast cradle?

i just installed the hobie mast stand on the rear crossbar of the trailer and it works great. it is high enough to walk the mast up with the wench and it has a hinge with a pin to allow it to fold down while launching.

after rigging the boat, just pull the pin and the mast stand lowers flat sticking straight rear of the trailer to allow the boat to be launched. It also serves as an added safety catch to prevent the unlikely loss of the boat if all other tie downs break.

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1984 Hobie Cat 18
1998 SeaDoo GSXL

I use a surfboard rack pad tied around my mast where it hits the rear crossbar. It protects the mast from scratching. I lock it down with rubber bungees from the traveler to the swivel cam. This also keeps the traveler from sliding out and falling off. Its simple and cheap!

well what about the rudder tiller? I had a plastic mast stand that sits on the rear crossbar. the bolt finally pulled thru the plastic causing it to be loose on the crossbar and it kept rotating letting the mast fall down and rest on the rudder. After seeing another sailer with the trailer mount stand, I said, I gotta get one of those.

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1984 Hobie Cat 18
1998 SeaDoo GSXL

I remove the rudders and tiller from my boat while trailering. It's not hard to do, and it saves wear on the equipment. But this is already covered in another thread.

I remove the crossbar always. I also have removable pins for the rudders but normally cover the rudders and leave them on. I have installed the miracle 20 style quick releases on my crossbar so removal is easy. My boat spends much time on the beach and people sitting on it bend or break crossbars so removal is critical.