mast rig-up

It has been quite expensive for me to experiment and find the best way to rig-up the mast on the Hobie 16. The initial failures taught me a few useful lessons.

My first few attempts were failures. Initially I attached the bottom of the gin pole to the mast as shown, using a shackle attachment to a permanent fitting on the mast.

The top of the gin pole was held in a steady position using the existing jib sheet as shown, with the pulleys attached to the front tips of each hull. As I cranked the hand winch the mast rises; but it would not stay in one plane. All the various forces concentrating on the link attachment. I ruined 2 new links (@ $34 ea) and was compelled to look for a cheaper way to hold the gin pole steady in one plane as I cranked up the mast. The jib sheets required too many fractional adjustments on the way up. I soon abandoned this arrangement and looked for a simpler method to hold the gin pole in one plane.

This time I attached the bottom of the gin pole to the dolphin striker post with a large shackle. and re-arranged the jib sheet attachments from each front corner of the trampoline frame to the top of the gin pole. This is a very different arrangement. This time it is much simpler to keep the gin pole in one plane as I cranked the winch slowly to raise the mast and checking

all around in my leisure. There was no rush to raise this heavy mast. In fact I was enjoying the rig-up on my front lawn until I have gained enough confidence to use it at the lake side. This arrangement seems much better than the previous method. The next thing to do was to test it at Lake Ngaroto to see whether it really works.

I launched and sailed the catamaran two more times before winter sets in and  all sailing became out of the question. The weather was not very cooperative. I was in irons for 2 hr on Lake Ngaroto with not a breathe of wind. Fortunately I could take a nap on the trampoline. Too bad I did not bring a flute!