Stepping the mast on the 22 vs. weekender

[Fred G.]

How much more difficult is it, if at all, to step the mast of the CD22 vs the Weekender -- weight, height, etc.

[Tim Mertinooke]

I can only speak to the weekender. I have with care and planning stepped and unstepped the mast of my Ty without problem by myself. It can be done, but an extra set of hands to "hold this" or "get that" is priceless. Tim

[s-dupuis]

See previous posts on this topic but in a nutshell, the Typhoon, as stated, can be stepped alone with careful planning and no special equipment. Not so with the CD 22. It is a much larger/heavier mast requiring 3 men & a boy or a well designed 'Rig' to assist in moving and raising the spar.

[Fred G.]

I also have a Weekender which my son & I step & unstep the mast w/little difficulty. I have no conception as to how one person can do it alone. My thought was to move up to a 22 & didn't know if such presented any unforseen circumstances.

[Tim Mertinooke]

I also have a Weekender which my son & I step & unstep the mast w/little difficulty. I have no conception as to how one person can do it alone.

Attach the stern turnbuckle and the upper and lower shroud turnbuckles on both port and starboard. Make sure that the upper and lower turnbuckles are very loose. Hold the forestay in your hand and start to walk the mast up. Once the mast is standing straight up, walk up to the bow while keeping tension on the forestay, then attach to the stem fitting. Once it is standing on its own, then you can tune the rig. It really isn't that difficult if you do it on the hard. In the water it can be a little more exciting. Tim

[rtbates]

While I have no experience with either boat,I did own a 27 footer who's mast I could raise single handed. The 'trick' is to run a line from the mast head to the bow via a block and back to a winch that's close at hand. I used the main halyard. I would put a bowline in the shackle end (don't use the shackle) and attach a separate line via a bowline to this and run it to the bow through a block back to a winch. The two bowlines where the lines attach has been raised to the masthead. While raising the mast the first few degrees take up on this line. Once the mast is up say 30 degrees the line running to the bow should hold it and allow raising the rest of the way with just the line. There are several methods that use gin poles also. This method helps getting the first few feet up. One method I've seen uses an electric winch mounted on the tow vehicle along with the gin pole for total push button raising. For this method to work really well it's important that the shrouds be just snug enough to provide latteral support. An internet search should reveal lots of information on the subject.

best of luck

[Gary M]

Fred,

I've owned both and the CD22 will be much more difficult to raise and lower IMHO.

I wouldn't try to lower the mast on my 22 with out help or a suitable rig for that purpose.

Gary

[Jim Sullivan]

Fred:

I owned two Typhoons ('71 and'73) for nearly 14 years and routinely raised/lowered the mast with the assistance of one other person while the boat was on the water. I also owned a '83 CD22D which I had the boatyard do the raising and lowering of the mast. The approx. $65 was well worth it to have the yard do this job using a crane. The mast on the 22 is much heavier than that on the Ty. You may try searching the Archives as this issue was previously discussed.

Jim

[Hymodyne]

I just launched my 22 on the Otis Resivoir in MA earlier this season. stepping the mast took two people.

1. mark and then loosen the turnbuckles on the forestay, middle and rear shrouds.

2. attach the backstay and the last two shrouds on either side.

3. attach the rear bolt on the mast step with the mast spar lying rearward. you can use a prop or something to keep the spar from lying below parallel to the ground/water. I put a heavy quilt on my
sliding hatch cover to prevent scratches or damage to brightwork/ fiberglass.

4. with the backstay and four of six sidestays in place, one person walks the spar to its upright position, while the other pulls the spar forward using the forestay cable.

5. the loosened turnbuckle on the forestay will allow you to re-attach it, after which you can install the forward bolt on the mast step. Be sure that your mast wire does not get crushed or
cut by the raising action on the spar.

6. re-set your standing rigging, or tune them as needed.

This process was used twice: once on the hard as I was checking out the condition of the spar, and again when I launched the boat.

hope this helps,

hym

[Fred G.]

Thanks to everybody for your input/help.