Mast Lowering Tackle

[TonyM]

Hi, I am about to purchase a Bavaria 37. It is, and will continue to be, moored upstream of three low bridges. The mast needs to be lowered so that the tip is 6.8 metres above the waterline. It is not currently rigged for mast lowering.

The yacht has a twin swept back spreader rig from Seldon. Other similar yachts at the club are rigged for mast lowering, but I was wondering if in the wider Bavaria world there is any experience of, and success or otherwise, of different approaches to the problem.

The traditional method is using spinnaker poles (or the like) as an 'A' Frame and a hefty block and tackle connecting the peak to the bow and to the forestay, below the roller furling rig. This also utilises wobble stoppers and various steadying lines (given that the swept back spreaders are useless as soon as the mast starts lean aft.

Thoughts and ideas from current experience would be warmly welcomed!

Kind Regards
Tony

[Salty]

1. Don't do it.
2. If you really must do it make sure that your insurance company is fully aware of your intentions, and that they agree to cover you for all risks throughout the lowering and inevitably intended subsequent raising and that you get their agreement in writing. Otherwise Don't do it !
3. Make sure that you know the weight of the mast, and that you have fully calculated the forces involved on all parts of the rig during the lowering, and that the equipment used and the places to which that equipment is attached is more than sufficiently strong enough according to those calculations. Otherwise Don't do it !
4. You say "similar yachts at the club are rigged for mast lowering." Are they similar in size with similar aluminium masts etc., because if they are, then look at their rig and be guided by it, but if they are not then Don't do it !
5. Go alongside a suitable jetty, get a mobile crane to do the job for you, and move permanently downstream below the bridges to a different mooring area.
6. The reason for being rather negative about your plans is that whilst I have lowered a mast in the past, the system provided was specifically designed for the job, (going up the Manchester ship canal on a 10,000 ton cargo ship) and in a separate incident I have seen the damage done both to the mast and to the boat when someone else tried doing it on a much smaller yacht than a B37. Ouch, and very expensive to boot !!

[Lazy Pelican]

I'd say you have 2 options:

1. Move to a mooring which doesn't require the mast to be lowered.
2. Buy a different boat!

John

[tiger79]

I have to agree that this is a fairly risky proposition, and I can't see that it's viable.

[TonyM]

Wow, well thanks for the responses, I do understand the concerns expressed and risks involved.

I will look very closely at the other yachts in the club, particularly those with similar Seldon masts.

Pens on the seaward side of the bridges are almost double the price and, in common with any of our marinas, whether on the river or outside, pen availability is almost non existent - with significant waiting lists (in fact the nearest marina to me has closed its waiting list!).

Back to mast lowering - it is a regular and frequent event here, and most yachts are set up for it. I take my current 30 footer through the bridges around 10 times each year, for short and longer cruises, and will expect to do the same with the Bavaria. The difference though is that the Seldon rig is taller (by about 3 metres) and has swept back spreaders. I can see how others, locally, approach this, but I thought perhaps that someone in the wider (Bavarian) family may have approached the problem from a different perspective?

Anyway, I appreciate your thoughts and will post an update later in the year when I address the issue on the new boat.

Kind Regards
Tony

[paulemeier1]

i would not do this. I owned a Bav 30 with an electrical Mast Lowering for 12 Years. It was no problem to lower the Mast. Now I owned a Bav 37 2006. It is very different. The mast of the 30 , I could Handle but the Must of the 37? Now chance .
I Would like to give you an advice, there a two german specialists in Berlin. The build Mast lowering for ships I think to 36-37feet. I would contact them , maybe they can help you.
here the adresses, very similar, but different companies

www.edelstahl-haese.de
www.haase-edelstahl.de

donz do it by yourself, it is very dangeros.

[Trapeze Artist]

What Salty said, but leave out items 2 to 6.

Seriously, I can't see this being a viable proposition. Several people have mentioned the issue of handling the weight, which I totally agree with. There is also the issue of rig tension: my Bav 30 has 7 full turns on each cap shroud from slack to tensioned, and that takes a fair bit of grunt with a large lever to apply or take off. More time, more effort, more hassle. I suspect boats with tabernacles designed for mast-lowering are also designed to have next-to-no tension.

[IslandAlchemy]

Having thought about it, you could probably do it, but:-

You would have to change the mast foot for one that has a pivot bolt.
You would have to put enough slack in the electrics, or unplug them each time
You would have to remove the rod kicker and replace it with a rope-based system
You would have to remove the roller reefing and setup a custom forestay system with a 2:1 and a way of winding tension onto it
You would have to have a strop on the forestay to attach a block & tackle to, so you can drop the mast back and hoist it up again.

The thing is, that by the time you've spent £5k doing these mods, and then have a boat that's worth at least £10k less because it's non-standard, I would think that you would be better-off paying the higher fees to go the other side of the bridge.

[TonyM]

Thanks for all the replies, instructive & constructive, if a little depressing!

I'll post an update on this subject in a few weeks as things develop here and I'll post details of how it works on some of the other local yachts of a similar size with Seldon swept back rigs.

Tony

[singlefish]

dont see the swept back prob , spreader angle is fixed , but , really , mast weighs a ton ,I baulk at putting the required rig tension required on and havent even braved craning mine down  yet ,  ive a snotter which we drop mast at end of season , drop really word for it and once at a wee angle loads become enormous .

Ive a cat too with carbon mast thats a doddle , unless windy

remember rig ma roll of taking boom on and off too , nightmare

as posts above dont do for many reasons .

its gonna cost you a fortune to devalue your boat .

sorry