Newbie sailing question regarding mast stepping.

[Scott Dufour]

Since my only sailing experiences have either been on 30+ foot sloops once in a while, or a sunfish when I was a kid, I've no experience with this issue. It's probably a silly question because I don't see anybody else ever asking it: How tough is it to step the masts on the CS17?

Every time I think of the process, I imagine myself standing on the boat in the water, the muffler of my truck blub-blubbling with the trailer slightly askew on the launch. I've got both hand braced overhead, holding up the main mast, trying to get it to line up in the hole. A cotter pin is missing somewhere, but that doesn't matter because I don't have a free hand to put it in wherever it goes, anyway. Eventually I slip, smack my funny bone on the centerboard case, and the mast comes crashing down on my noggin. The crowd waiting for the ramp to launch both gasps and guffaws. While slowly losing consciousness, I hear my 5 year old daughter say "Poor man. I wonder who he was..."

[Garry]

Scott, that's how it works the first time or two. Then you figure a few things out and it gets easier. :wink:

Actually its not hard. But you do want to think it through at least a little. Like the hot day I took advantage of the empty boat ramp to set my boat up in the shade, only to find that the boat made a funny noise as I pulled it out from under the tree. Fortunately, it was one of those rare moments when no one was around to see the forestay pull the fitting out of the deck and the mast take a 30 degree bend.

That sure put a kink in my sailing for the day. Even after I straightened the mast there was a small kink to remind me to THINK! things through.

[Brent]

How tough is it to step the masts on the CS17?

You will be amazed at how easy it goes.

On of the best features of this design for me is that I can go where I want when I want. Stepping the mast and for that matter the rest of handling the boat is a one person task. Crew, while always a pleasure to have on board, is not an essential to going for a sail.

[Rob Blackburn]

I have a 20 footer and it is not hard to rig it single handed. I store the sails wrapped around the masts and tied off.

So put boat in water with masts on carriers in the mast holes. Drop them on the boat, take off covers, pick up and drop in the hole. If it is windy I do it into wind and get one of the kids to hold the bottom of the mast to facilitate locating it into the hole easier.

You could easily rig up a shock cord loop to tie off on the foot of the mast if you were by yourself and the wind was up to locate the mast bottom.

Piece of piss as they say. If you can rig a laser, you can rig a 20 and then the 17 must be easier... If you have the sail wrapped around then you don't have that monster flogging in the wind..

[Scott Dufour]

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen. It looks like I'm just gonna have to gain some sea legs and things should be all right.