Mast knuckle

[Nix393]

Hi all,

I enjoy taking my cat out, but I always have to take a second person as I need a second to help get mast up.

Is there a knuckle for these cats you can buy to replace the pin in hole setup that's on there.

I've seen these on hobies, just curious if anyone knows where you can get one, so I can get up on my own and take it out.

Thanks

[darcy1945]

Nix, its possible to be off the trailer and in the water in 10 minutes, on your own, (cat rigged, sloop rig takes a little longer) There is no fitting available to locate the mast step whilst raising, the trick is to have the twin forestay rig, have the bows of the boat a 30cm or more higher than the stern (on the beach rollers, on a slope or on the back rollers of the trailer) lay the mast out with the step under the front beam, connect the forestays, stand the mast up with the base still on the ground, when you have it vertical lift straight up onto the the step and allow it to fall back against the forestays, the angle of the mast will hold itself whilst you connect the sidestays (unless its blowing a gale). ph 02 43591729 if you can't make sense of this or require any other info on Maris.

[Nix393]

Ohhh cool, Thankyou very much, I'll give it ago when I get home.

[knobblyoldjimbo]

If you have the 'modern' rigging it's easier because the forestays are 5.5m long and this lets the mast rake back further so it's a bit safer.

I often put the mast up with a bit of line attached to the halyard and wrapped around the rear beam (or through the traveller cleat). When the mast is up I then pull the line tight and cleat it and the mast then won't move anywhere while you attach the shrouds.

Also (being a little lighter than Darcy) when I pick up the mast (lying flat on the ground) I do it so the bottom of the mast levers under the dolphin striker to get the top of the mast upright.

When you have the mast upright let it rest on the ground while you get your balance, then do a snatch and lift to get the pin in the hole, then let it gently fall backwards and tighten the forestays (and then pull the halyard line to tension the rig).

All this should always be done head to wind - those masts have a surprising amount of windage if its blowing.

J

[Pointed Reply]

The only knuckle on a Maricat is the bloke holding the tiller !

The method described by Darcy for rigging a cat rigged boat also works for us 9 lb weaklings...

I have also developed a technique which lets me rig my sloop by yourself.

The SuperSloop rig with jib, trapeze, furlers etc is a fair bit harder to handle for us little guys.

I generally only sail sloop at regattas/club days when I know there will be others around to assist.

When stepping the mast cat rigged, you can attach all four stays as long as they are very loose

Also if you put a large block of wood or a small stool (about 300mm high) just in front of the front beam and just beside the mast,

With the mast in the vertical position but sitting on the ground, first take an intermediate lift to the stool, get a new grip and lift into position.

Be very careful with a wet mast.

To lower the mast, loosen the stays, lift the mast up and put straight down in a vertical position in front of the front beam, then lower forward.

As the afore mentioned 9 lb weakling I find the lift down easier while standing on the tramp.

The fat boys can do this easily from the ground.

[Pointed Reply]

What we should do is take a video of rigging a Maricat and post it on utube.

[michaelobe007]

For the sloop rig, we attach an extra bit of line to the shrouds. Attach forestay, attach shrouds using extra length of line then lift mast as described above. Then use the mainsheet and traveller to pull the boom down and reattach shrouds to proper length. To drop mast, then just reverse the process.