H18 set up.

Bought an 18 magnum last fall. We don't live on the water or have mast-up storage so we trailer to the ramp and rig it in the lot. (Yes the powerboat guys think we're nuts.)

The first time I set it up in our yard it had been completely un-rigged. I had never rigged an 18 before and all I had was the pdf and some hand written notes from a previous owner. It took me, solo, 3 hours to get it all up and I still had some stuff wrong.

The second time I started making a checklist so stuff gets done in the right order and I didn't have to undo and redo so much. Solo 1 Hr & 45 min.

6 months later I pick the boat up the night before and pre- rig as much as I feel is safe to drive to the ramp. But even still with pre-rigging and checklist it takes me almost an hour to get the boat in the water. I know if I had an experienced crew it would go a lot faster but nobody in my family has ever sailed before. I'm also a safety fanatic so I have 3 safety harnesses for stepping the mast.

Does anybody have a better checklist or ways to cut down on the setup time. Are their better ways to keep the cables from tangling etc.. A way to secure the main sheet so it can be pre-rigged? (a cover or a bag maybe) Any suggestions would be great.

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

A couple of things I do.

First I leave the main sheet rigges to the boom, so the only thing I have to redo is thread the sheet through the traveller and tie the stop knot

Second I made a telescopic front mast support for my trailer and mounted a whinch on it. I then made two small removable extentions for the trap wires to attach them to the front cross bar. This holds the mast from going side to side as I which it up and down via the forestay.

All the stays and trap wires stay attached at both ends save the bottom of the forestay.

I think I can have the boat ready to back into the water in about 30 - 45 minutes if I am relaxing and explaining things to a novice, and in under 30 if there ore two of us who don't have to talk to each other.

Thirty minutes is my goal. I do leave the sheet hooked to the boom but I leave them in the sailbox because I don't want the boom to fall off the tramp or the sheet dragging on the ground on the way to the ramp. Maybe a zip up bag that lashes to the tramp.

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

You sound like you're on the right track, just keep using the boat and you'll develop a system and learn what things to leave and what to remove.

If you have a real complex mast stepping system, that's probably eating up a lot of time. The fastest is to have two people just lift the mast up and then one jumps down and connects the forestay. This of course isn't always possible.

Leave the shrouds and trap wires all connected and just loosen one shroud if necessary for rigging. Some people just shove all the wires in the port holes for trailering (maybe not the best for the wires, but fast).

If you really want to cut off some time, you can leave the jib furled around the forestay when trailering. Not the best for the sail, but saves time.

And of course you can leave the rudders attached too if you don't already.

sm

probably one of the easiest ways to cut down time is stated above by leaving
your jib attached to for-stay.Quick pins at the bridal assy.on both bows,quick pin at gooseneck snap shackles at boom to upper block.Leave base block hooked to travelor and just slide out starboard side of track complete.I have made a 1" square telescopic mast rest on rear of trailer that slides up 3ft and hinges at bottom,with this up I have no problem lifting mast by my self
and my girl just pins the bridals .rudder pins in and main up,set your furler ,hook jib sheet ,attatch boom snap block on tiller ext and your done .
Shawn
82 h18 #8211
div 3

Stepping is definitely the biggest time eater. A 30 ft lever that weighs close to 100 lbs is very scary to me. The potential for damage to boats, cars and people weighs heavily on me. Add to that a winch that can produce 100's of pounds of force directed at the winch operator and the broken stepping hinge I found in the sail box and I am probably over cautious about the whole process. With all my safety harnesses it probably takes me 15-20 minutes to do what should take 5.

Modifying Adrio's technique of using the trap wires by running the jib sheets under the front x-bar, over the hulls and back around the wing mounts to connect to the trap lines would get rid of two of the harnesses. I think I'm going to try that the next time.

The mast base harness is I think a permanent fixture.

_________________
The ox is slow but the earth is patient

I guess I dont understand what you are using a harness for.Like I said above ,once you have pinned the mast step as long as you keep the mast perpindicular to the crossbar and make sure the pin is through both sides of the base plate you should never break that casting.I have seen them break only when the pin is only through one side or the mast is raised at an angle.As long as your side stays are not tangled,if you start picking up the mast at the rear cross bar and as you lift it walk forward hand over hand you should have no problem lifting that mast.Those winch setups are ok but unless your by yourself all the time they are a time killer and unstable unless you guide the mast with one set of trap wires.I have been able to lift those masts since I was about 16 by my self without any problem,as long as you are ready to go up,its way easier and you can adjust your stance under the mast pretty easy ,even in big wind.Two tips ,if you are nervous and can point bows down hill it makes it easier to hold the mast while the bridals are pinned,and watch the diamond wires when you lift up.
hope this helps you,whether on the trailer or on the beach this is the fastest and easiest way to step the mast if you have a little help.
Shawn
82 H18 #8211
Div3

Here's my rationale. The bottom part of the stepping hinge is made of a fairly crappy aluminum alloy. The bottom of the mast with which it mates is high grade steel. Since I've got a broken one (came in the sail box) and I read posts here about them breaking and I've actually seen one break (though not catastrophically) I figure that bottom part is actually engineered to break to protect the $1000 mast. The cause is if the 100 lb 30 ft lever of a mast would swing off center during the raising.

Because I trailer in and out, the boat is up off the ground a couple of feet making it that much harder to get the mast going. Also standing on a bouncy tramp on a bouncy trailer in a stiff gusty breeze made me feel like we were waving the mast into position by raising it manually.

Because I usually go ahead of the family and set up solo I instead use the winch to raise the mast. With nobody to steady the mast going up I hooked up a harness on each side at the diamond spreader to steady it. I'm going to replace those with the trap wires ala Adrio's suggestion.

The other harness is attached to the foot of the mast. I replaced the stepping hinge pin with the pin of a U shaped clevis that is cabled to the Cheetah motor mount on the back crossbar. Even with the mast elevated to start the stepping, when you crank on the winch you are loading up a bunch of force into that mast that if something were to break would pull the foot of that mast right into your teeth. As long as the mast foot doesn't break that harness would protect the winch operator. I believe the hinge is designed to break first.

I'm probably paranoid but the potential consequences are way too big for the couple of minutes that harness takes.

_________________
The ox is slow but the earth is patient

All of the cast components on the mast step are aluminum. I don't think that the mast step hinge is "engineered to break" per se, it just happens to be the weakest component in the base system, so it's the piece most likely to fail. I think the hinge is plenty strong to do it's job, but it will break if it's torqued too much. I personally only know of one person that has ever broken the mast step hinge (although it is menioned here often, so I guess it does happen occasionally).

I don't suggest you do anything you feel is unsafe or you feel uncomfortable with, so if your system seems safe, stick with it, but it will lengthen your rigging time. Since the topic of your post is ways to reduce rigging time, I will say that raising the mast manually (with one or two people) is the fastest way and it can be done safely.

sm

There was a guy in our fleet that used to break them (mast step hinge plates) regularly. One day I was watching him as he attempted to step his mast. He would grab the diamond wire near the spreader and yank up on it, putting a lot of twisting torque on the hinge of the mast step and snapping it right off.
Once I showed him what he was doing wrong, and he changed the way he was lifting the mast, he didn't have any further problems.

I've been stepping the mast on my 18's for over 25 years and as long as you don't twist the mast as you attempt to raise it, I don't believe you should ever encounter a problem.

Stephen
H-18

Very true. I am probably way over cautious on this one. My ten year old daughter was working the winch as I guided the mast up when it occurred to me what was possible and I made her move away immediately. I lowered it and rigged the harnesses before I tried it again. Now I work the winch and stop to adjust the side harnesses as needed. Using the trap wires will eliminate the side harnesses and the bottom one goes on and off pretty quickly.

I use the other two trap wires in tandem to raise the mast so I don't have to disconnect the winch until the fore-stay is secure.

Leaving everything connected while trailering saves time but is there a good way to secure and organize them while the mast is in the cradle and the lines are slack?



The hinge is a lot softer alloy than the base and the way I've heard engineers and mechanics talk about metallurgy and design in cars it wouldn't surprise me if it was planned that way. The hinge is much cheaper and easier to replace than the base would be. Seems like a good idea even if unintentional!

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The ox is slow but the earth is patient

I like your idea of being able to connect the forestay to the bidle without disconnecting the whinch. But I find the if the trailer is nose down or the boat is nose down then it is not much work to keep the mast up while attaching the forestay to the bridle.

As to what to do with all the stays etc. while trailering. I leave them all attached and coil them in very large coils (say 2 feet across) them tuck them under the hiking straps on the tramp (one set on each side of the boat). Then I pass a bungie cord from one side of the boat to the other passing through the centre of these coils and trapping them to the hiking straps. It only takes a second and works well.

I think once all this snow goes away, I will try and take some pictures of my set up and trap wire extensions and telescopic mast cradle and post them on my web site. Maybe by May some time.

Adrio I wish I could mail you some sunshine from nor-cal.The snow will melt in no time.I do the same thing with my wires,takes two minutes to coil them carefully .I use two good quality rubber bungees to keep it all together,many years ago i lost the end of my forstay on my 16 and it drug behind my trailer for 10 miles before I saw it,WONT do that again.Good luck
Shawn
82 H18 #8211
div 3

I try to find a slightly downhill spot for setup but it also has to be level left to right to prevent mast sway during stepping. I also have tried unhooking and lowering the tongue of the trailer to get more starting mast elevation but you then have to re-hookup to launch. All time consuming.

I like the coil/bungee/hiking strap idea. That seems pretty secure for the trip to the ramp.

Manually stepping is probably the safest and fastest way to go. I'll have to try that again. The winch just seemed easy.

_________________
The ox is slow but the earth is patient

Personally, I much prefer to step the mast with the tongue of the trailer attached to the tow vehicle. Especially when lowering the mast. Having that positive connection prevents the trailer from suddenly tilting backwards. Without that positive connection, when the center of gravity shifts behind the axle of the trailer, the sudden shift in the tilt of the boat can be a crushing experience. Of course, having someone stand on the tongue of the trailer as you raise and lower the mast is an effective option..... until they get distracted by something and step off at an inopportune moment.
Also, if you run into trouble as your are raising or lowering the mast, your helper is stuck in a position where they may be unable to help you.

Stephen