need help with idea for getting mast raised by myself

I have a 2005 Hobie Bravo and I am an older lady. I have taken it out only once. I had a lot of trouble getting the mast raised, even with my 12 year old son helping. It seemed so heavy and my arms could hardly push it up. We are both short, so have trouble getting enough leverage to push it up into place. I was afraid the boat would slide on the concrete boat launch ramp a bit and I would fall off and get hurt. When we finally got the mast up, it was so hard to get the screw to fit into the bar that secures the mast. Does anyone have any tricks, especially when the boat is launched on a steep boat ramp?

Trying to step the mast... up-hill would be difficult. Try on level ground or pull the boat off the trailer and do it in the water.

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

Or just leave the boat pointed downhill on the ramp.... then turn it around with the mast up and secured...


What I did last summer when stepping my H14 mast (about 2-3 times a week) was to use the Main halyard hooked to a boat winch on the trailer... I had basically what amounted to two mast stands... The one closest to the boat had a simple hand winch mounted and I just had a place on the front stand in which to run the cable through.....Being who I am I would just step the mast the old fashioned way (without the aid of a hinge ) And then once the mast was up I would use the winch attached to the halyard to hold tension on the mast until I could hook up the fore stay.. It worked great..


If you look in the hobie catalog they have a couple different "easy step" systems shown. I have never looked at the mast base of a bravo, but I can't imagine it would be hard to make something similar to assist you with raising the mast..


If you have a sound way to hinge the mast near or at where it needs to go... and a SECURE mast stand in which to mount a simple boat winch.. The job should be easy breezy with two sets of hands... One to work the winch and the other to simply stabilize the mast as it goes up...

_________________
www.thehobiewayoflife.com

Good idea too... We have a wide ramp at one of the local spots. I stepped the mast with the rig pointed down hill. Tons easier for sure.

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

Another idea: if it's really too much to handle, you could take the boat and mast off of the trailer. Put the mast on the ground at 90 degrees to the boat. Turn the boat on it's side (with the top of the boat/deck facing the mast on the ground) and then grab the base of the mast and insert into the boat, fasten. Then pull the boat back to upright. It's not elegant but it might work.
Now: this could turn out to be harder than the current method you're attempting but it's food for thought. Can't recall how hard it is to flip the boat on its side

It's a good idea when you're having a problem (whatever it is) to practice (in some non rushed environment) what you're going to do before you get to the boat launch area.

_________________
Adam
e-mail: ab at medjet.net
H17S, Hobie Bravo, A cat
Fleet 444