Looks like we all have been very active this past Sept. long weekend. Sandpiper sailing down to Gordon’s Bay, Regatta at MYC, Spring regatta in False Bay and myself discovering new territory down south towards Frankfort on the Vaal dam / Wilgers River beyond the infamous low bridge of Oranjeville. 

Until recently after owning a Holiday23 for 5 years, I eventually found out the purpose of the 2 rings welded to the mast-step on the port side. It’s for a “leverage pole” to assist one when lowering the mast. Unbeknown to me at the time of purchasing my Holiday, mine did not come with such a pole. I believe that there are many of us that have asked the same question and would like to know and see how it all works. Many thanks to Damian Boyce (Dreamer H181) who has the original “Leverage Pole” on his Holiday and kindly loaned it to me for my planed excursion. 

In the past, we at the Vaal have done many long distance trips to Villiers up the Vaal River over the Easter long weekend of which the obstacles encountered are power lines. Most of which can be cleared by all yachts. On the other hand, the Oranjeville bridge going up the Wilgers River in a southerly direction towards Frankfort cannot be passed because of it’s height over the river (2 meters approx). But we have a Holiday23, we can do this!! It opens up another 120 sq Km of sailing waters if you have the right equipment. 

I have attached a sequence of photos taking down the mast (single handed) using the “Leverage Pole” – believe me, it is an easy task once you have worked out the sequence of events with the necessary preparation.

I initially practiced the taking down & raising of the mast in our marina a week before to iron out all the problem areas. The following sequence was established:- 

1. Mainsail was removed out of the mast track and boom removed off the mast with sail still attached to boom and placed on deck side.
2. Spinnaker halyard adjusted & secured in fixed position on the mast with the head of the halyard close to the bow pulley.  
3. Attach an extension line to the head of the Spinnaker Halyard and feed through the bow pulley to the mast winch to take up forestay tension and secure the line with at least 3 wraps around the winch.
4. Remove Genoa sheets and furling line from pulley blocks and wrap around Genoa. (if applicable)
5. Place the assembled “Leverage Pole” in it’s supports at the mast-step
6. Remove the forestay pin while full tension is on the spinnaker halyard.
7. Now remove the bottom mast pin (if applicable), allowing the mast to pivot on the top pin. Some Holidays only have one top pin.
8. Start lowering the mast by easing the tension on the winch.
9. Ensure that the spinnaker halyard seats into the “Leverage Pole” head when the mast is at approx 45 degrees, continue lowering until the mast is completely down.
10. Also ensure that the mast remains within the center line of the boat while lowering & raising.

A WORD OF WARNING:-

Due to the fact that this “Leverage Pole” did not have a pulley at the top – the friction build-up on the pole with the halyard & weight of the mast caused the pole to start bending. It had to be pushed back into the vertical position from time to time during the lowering & raising process. I had a hard time raising the mast single-handed and needed assistance due to the friction problem.

For those who have or want to manufacture and use this type of pole, I will highly recommend a pulley be placed at the top.           

In the sequence of photos, I have also included close-ups of the pole sections with measurements to give everyone an idea of the construction if you are interested in making one. It makes life that much easier. 

For the rest, this exercise with the bridge and going down south was a wonderful experience to explore new grounds and maybe next year over the Easter weekend we should get all the Vaal Dam H23’s together and others to go to Frankfort instead of Villiers (only 18Nm longer). Total time taken for mast “Down & “Up” was 1.5 hours including all de-rigging & re-rigging to continue sailing.

Last note:- If it wasn’t the latest Garmap “SA Waterways” GPS maps the navigation through the large areas of water with their sallow banks would not have been possible. Believe me, these maps are very accurate!!!

Regards

Marcel Prydekker

H23 About Time 124

    The Oranjeville                  Getting started                     Coming down                   Almost done

        Bridge                             genoa off

     Mast down                      Mind your head                 All going well                        Success!!

New waters discovered    Navigating shallows         Leverage pole mast         Leverage pole supports

                                                                                                    down                               at mast step                           

Hi Coenie 

Seeing as there has been recent discussion over broken masts etc. I thought it might be of interest for the other members to know about my problem with the Forestay this weekend (2 May 2009), because it is a problem which could be experienced by a number of other H23 owners especially with Roller Furlers which tend to hide the rigging. 

I had been called and told on Friday Afternoon that there was something loose on the front of the boat and that it seemed as if only the roller furling gear was holding up the mast.  I asked someone there to attach my main Halyard to the anchor roller fitting to support the mast until I got there.   I got to the boat on Saturday morning to find that the forestay turnbuckle had snapped through and in fact the only thing holding up the mast was the Genoa halyard which was, of course, attached to the roller furling gear and the Genoa. 

It seems likely that this turnbuckle had snapped through as we were just about to enter harbour 2 weeks ago after sailing in a 20-25 Knot blow under shortened Genoa.   I was sailing with inexperienced crew, hence the shortened sail, and the genoa was left to flog mercilessly until I took action myself.  I think that snapping motion was too much for the weakened corroded fitting.  Luckily we were under motor and busy furling the sail! 

Anyhow, I was advised by the rigger that all the older type “Bottle Screw/Barrel type” turnbuckles are very prone to break like this.  He actually said they will ALL break and it is just a matter of time.  The newer “gibb” type turnbuckles are likely to be much safer and last much longer – owing to the open structure allowing them to dry out instead of accumulating moisture in the barrel.   It makes sense to me and I recommend the H23 owners who have the older type turnbuckle to replace them immediately.   R200 spent now could save them the R33 000 it would cost should they lose their mast.  It is quite easy to replace and can be done while the R/Furling is in situ, and does not require the mast to be dropped.   The easiest way to change the turnbuckle is as follows: 

It is recommended that 2 people do this job. 

1.                   Release the topping lift and let the boom rest on the deck.

2.                   Slacken off the backstay.

3.                   Attach the main halyard to something strong at the bows and winch it up tight to pull the mast forward.   This will shorten the distance for the forestay to cover and give some slack.

4.                   Make sure the jib halyard is hauled up tight.

5.                   Use a vice grip to clamp the swaged forestay screw above the turnbuckle to stop it from sliding up inside the furler.  Unscrew the turnbuckle and screw in the new one onto the forestay screw (making sure that you have the same thread in the turnbuckle before you start (most likely anyway because of the forestay diameter). 

You do not necessarily need to replace the forestay at this point as it is usually the bottom screw that breaks but all rigging needs to be checked for corrosion and you should replace anything that is suspect.   It is also important to check the Forestay fastening at the top of the mast. 

Hope this is useful

Regards

Shoo, this makes it sound easy. I guess it is if both crew members are strong and above average height! Personally, I only do it on the hard.

The ‘pole’ is indeed part of the process. You run the halyard over it to increase the angle between the halyard and the mast when lifting it. Some just have a ‘U’ at the top, others a deep groove wheel.

I found that the stays sometimes slip out the top fixing position on the way up-then you have to lower it again! I took to putting a single wrap of insulation tape (NOT masking tape-it sticks too well to the mast) around the stay sleeves at the top before it goes up-as they take tension, it breaks loose and hangs there-retrieve with a boat hook...

Rob