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Anybody have any ideas on retrofitting my CS 17 mk 3 tabernacles to allow the masts to rotate freely? I love the freely rotating masts on my CS 17 ‘Lively’. I like the way they follow the sail when on a run allow it to go forward of the mast when necessary. This is also great when running onto a beach which I do occasionally here in FL. What I like best is the ability to quickly furl the sails by rolling them on the masts. Not for reefing but for rigging and unrigging the boat for trailering. On ‘Lively’ I have to lift the sails up and drop them into the mast support tube (not sure what it is called) which is not a problem because even with the sails wrapped on them they are very light and manageable. Another thing is I can store her in my garage. The masts on the CS 17 mk 3 in tabernacles are easy to raise but seem to require two people one to hold the mast while bolting it down and then you have to hank on the sails, etc. I have found on ‘Summer Breeze’ my CS 17 mk 3 that hanking the sails on and off is very time consuming for just day sailing. Maybe I am just not used to the process yet but it seems like the mk3 is much harder or at least more time consuming. Granted she is really designed for multiple day trips. A second advantage I see would be to have the ability to pull the masts out of the tabernacle and hang in the garage or at least eliminate the masts sticking out 3-4 feet on the ends. Another goal is to be able to store ‘Summer Breeze” in my garage straight in as opposed to now I have to place her crosswise and she takes up practically the whole two car garage. I will also probably have to put a hinge on the forward end of the trailer. I do understand I will lose the sail battens and some performance. Here are my musings on how it might be done. I would make a fiberglass/epoxy tube just as it did for ‘Lively’. This tube would then either need a big buildup of epoxy/fiberglass to give it the strength it would need to carry the hinge bolt or epoxy it into a box. The box would then carry the hinge load. Of course the current tabernacle Ubox would have to be expanded enough to handle the tube/box within it. I did a quick investigation and it appears that this may be possible within the space that is there. The problem may occur at the bow. It will depend on how wide the tube/box is. Please feel free to shoot holes in anything I have said above. Am I crazy to even think of doing this? Maybe Graham or Alan has already thought about this. I will appreciate your suggestions.