Gin pole mast raising for the Morgan 24

This method works for me but adaptations to the equipment and method are many and will still work. One primary note here is that the shrouds MUST be loosened at least 6 turns to allow the mast to come down without putting strain on the chainplates and the shrouds themselves. The second important note is the placement of the bridle ring at the same height as the mast hinge. See below

Since the mast for the Morgan 24/25 is not something one can just get under and lift, a raising system is required especially if you sail single handed as I many times do. The following is a discussion of the method I now use. It is usually fairly easy to raise the mast and as long as the weather is not too extreme.

I built a two legged mast support with pads that sit over a u-bolt on each of the cockpit benchs right at the stern. With the support up, I can still have the center mounted motor attached and mast support high enough that it will work for both trailering on the highway and a support for the mast when I am at the launch ramp raising the mast. It must be high enough that when the mast is pinned to the tabernacle the mast and the cleats attached will clear the sliding hatch. The Mast support has a roller made from three different sizes of greased PVC that roll on a half inch galvanized bolt. The mast support is held up with wires on the back and a line I tie to the centered mainsheet traveler.

Additional supports for trailering include a post pinned to the tabernacle to keep the mast from sagging in the middle and a bow pulpit support to keep the mast centered on the front. See picture below.

The gin pole is constructed mostly from materials you can get from Home Depot or Lowe's Home Improvement.. It includes:

Two2x4 (8' long)

Two eye-bolts

A U-bolt or two

4" bolt for the sheeve

A sheeve good for 1/2 inch line

A good pole attachment point on the mast to keep the mast from sliding out of place on the mast

A trailer winch ( one that ratchets in both directions if you can find one )

At least 30ft of line to run from the winch, through the sheave in the gin pole and tied to the bow cleat.

Some low stretch line for the gin pole bridle, or steel cable would work also.

When putting together the gin pole, mount the winch somewhere in the middle of the pole, but in a place that when mounted on the mast and standing straight up, it will be at a good working height to turn the handle under load. I tried just one 2X4 for the pole but the pole bent a lot and I decided to add a second 2X3 to help strengthen it. Two 2X4s with one at 90 degrees from the other would make a very sturdy pole. Do not use pressure treated or your gin pole will be very heavy. I used a sheave made by Shaefer designed to be used at the masthead and sold by West Marine. The sheave system is needed if the winch is on the top of the gin pole like mine. If you put the winch on the bottom of the pole, you can just put a u-bolt and snap a block on it and run the winch line thru it. It might even be stronger that way. You can do away with the winch, block, and line by simply using a 6 to 1 block and tackle between a cleat on the bow and the end of the gin pole as long as the line is more than 90 ft long. Anything less than 6 to 1 is too hard to pull.

When I first designed my gin pole, I used an anchor chain stop mounted to the mast to fit the gin pole in but since have updated my system, removing the anchor chain stop because it was a source of snagging for the jib sheets while tacking.

To keep the pole in place now I drilled two holes in the front of the mast one large and one small. and installed two pins in the end of the gin pole to fit in the holes in the mast. These pins would hold the gin pole in place and prevent it from rotating while I cranked on the winch. The pictures showing the pole in place on the mast are from the time with I was using the anchor chair stop. New pictures showing the gin pole in place using the pins and holes will come soon.

An alternate system could be a fork arrangement at the bottom of the gin pole that is made of heavy metal plates or straps that would straddle the mast with a pin that would go thru the mast and hold it in place. My system seems to work as long as the bridle is tight enough to keep the pins from pulling out of the mast.

The bridle for the gin pole is the key to success for raising the mast with no trouble. The bridle keeps the gin pole on the same plane as the mast being raised and the bridle also acts as temporary shrouds as the mast is raised. Using the bridle with connections to both the top of the gin pole and to a point up the mast some will allow you to raise the mast single-handed. The bridle is made up with each side identical using a ring, three or four snaps, and some low-stretch line. I use bronze snaps because they are very strong and do not rust. Your gin pole and mast bridle needs a pivot point that is at the same height as your mast hinge pivot point so the bridle remains taunt throughout the mast raising or lowering operation. That means the top of the ring needs to be at the same height of the mast hinge pivot bolt. The bridle's forward snap connects to stanchion's rear loop at the deck. The rear snap connects to your jib fairlead or to a car on your jib track. I use the spinnaker pole track car for the short shrouds to keep the mast from swinging from side to side. They need to be quite tight to be useful. Using the main halyard you can pull this car up the track to tighten it. The gin pole shrouds should also be fairly tight to keep the pole centered on the mast as it goes up.

The jib halyard connects to the U-bolt on the top of the gin pole, and should be tensioned so the gin pole is less than 90 degrees to the mast and leaning back toward the stern. I try for about 75 degrees. The forestay is not used in the mast raising process, therefore it will be free to attached to the stem fitting once the mast is up.

.

The upper end of the bridle is attached to the top of the gin pole. The shorter length of line used as a temporary mast shroud is snapped on the spinnaker pole loop at the top of the spinnaker pole loop track. Connecting the main halyard to the spinnaker pole loop to tension the temporary shrouds will be helpful.. With all the gear in place and tensioned, you are ready to raise the mast. Move to the winch and start cranking the mast up. Watch for shrouds and stays snagging along the way. The beauty of the gin pole combined with a bridle is that you can stop with the mast at any position if you need to step away to free something that has fouled. Be sure to watch the mast shrouds to be sure they have been loosened enough so they do not strain the chainplates, the turnbuckles or the shrouds themselves. One more thing I had to do is to put t-bolts with toggles on each of the bottoms of my turnbuckles where they connect to the chainplates, so the mast shrouds would toggle backwards when I lower the mast. They were made by Johnson Marine and sold by West Marine.

Use of quick release shroud levers to speed up the mast raising process is an option but I have not been able to find any that use a 3/8" pin size. Most I have found at West Marine or Defender are designed for smaller boat use with a 1/4" pin size. I have heard that the F31 trimarans use these and it is called a highfield lever. I have no specs on it.

Additional ideas on mast raising can be found at the following links although it is for a smaller boats, it could work for boats as large as 30 ft. if is properly done with a heavy enough winch and bridle.

http://catalina22fleet20.home.comcast.net/news/rpts/200603/200603.htm

http://www.paceship.org/mylisting_detailed.asp?OwnerID=564&a