Gin Pole system for Venture 21

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Sail2
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:23 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 21
Location: Portland Oregon

Gin Pole system for Venture 21

Post by Sail2 »

After wrestling the mast up and down once on my Venture 21, ive decided that I need a mast raising system. I’ve done a fair amount of research on gin pole setups but really wish I could find a step by step guide with some detailed pictures of diagrams for dummies like me who are new sailors and boat owners. So far most of what I have found are primitive diagrams with very basic directions to go along with them—ie, “install baby stays”—ok I think I understand basically what a baby stay is but what kind of wire do I use? How does that wire connect to the mast? How does the baby stay then connect to the boat deck?— I’m also struggling to understand the best way to attach a gin pole to the base of the mast—seems like some people strap it on, others use some sort of bolt or hinge system. I did see a guy who basically installed what I’d describe as a separate stepping hinge for his gin pole that was located just forward of his actual mast step. Only problem is I believe he had a V22 or 25, whereas on my V21, immediately forward of the mast step the cabin roof slopes down, so any installed hinge would have to be probably a foot forward and 10 inches lower than the plane of the actual mast step. Anyways, if anyone wants to really dumb this down for me I’d appreciate it. Thank you!
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Wyb2
Engineer
Posts: 143
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2021 8:02 pm
Sailboat: MacGregor 25
Location: Northeast US

Re: Gin Pole system for Venture 21

Post by Wyb2 »

Wow, guess I should check the unanswered topics section once in a while, if I had seen this in July I probably could have taken some pictures of the make-shift mast raising system I’ve been using.

For the baby stays I’ve been using regular old 3/8 nylon rope. It’s 10x stronger than needed, but that means the fact that nylon stretches under load isn’t a problem because the relative load is so low.

They attach to eye straps on the deck. These I had to install by drilling and through-bolting. I placed them in line with the mast so that the baby stays will maintain about the same tension as the mast pivots up.



My mast already had a through hole parallel with the beam about 5 ft up, so I used a 4” stainless bolt with a nut and some gigantic washers, and just looped my rope around the bolt, with the washers retaining it. I’m working on a better system for this part.

My gin pole fits into another hole in the mast, on the front near the base (I think my boat had a mast raising system at one point). My gin pole is literally an old broom handle. I filed a notch in one end that the forstay sits in, and filed the diameter of the other end down enough to fit in the hole. It has no other support, it just pivots with the mast. Once the mast reaches maybe 15 degrees, the gin pole is no longer doing anything and just dangles from its hole.
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Stickinthemud57
Captain
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Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 7:50 am
Sailboat: MacGregor 26S
Location: Grapevine, Texas
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Re: Gin Pole system for Venture 21

Post by Stickinthemud57 »

A picture of your mast step plate would be helpful.

On my MacGregor 26S there are two holes on the fore end of the mast step plate which serve as an attachment point for the gin pole. I'm guessing there are no such holes on yours.

As Wyb2 said, baby stay deck mounting points should be even with the mast port and starboard, and as close as possible to the same level as the mast pivot point so that tension stays as consistent as possible through the stepping/unstepping process.

I will probably be pulling my boat out some time after December 3rd, so if no one has come back with detailed photos, I will try to get some for you. In the meantime, I have attached a photo that may be helpful.

Also, I submit for your consideration my mast-raising system, which utilizes the trailer winch.

https://macgregorsailors.com/mods/index ... em&id=2149


Image
The key to inner peace is to admit you have a problem and leave it at that.
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