Posted by: Geoff Sobering on March 30, 2005 at 10:05:45:
In Reply to: Re: Mast step question posted by wayne matheson on March 29, 2005 at 20:08:34:
Wayne,
Ain't the DN rules grand! ;-)
(for a really good time, check out the cockpit length specs!)
I'll be interested to hear what you decide to do for your mast-step. If you can, post some photos (iceboating.net is a good place).
When you're desiging new hardware (esp. the mast step) keep in mind the loads on a DN are extremely high for a boat of it's size. The force "down" on the mast-step is probably in the 1000+ lb range, and can be directed almost 45 degrees from the side when the mast bends out maximally. I've seen quite a few pretty solid-looking mast-steps ripped off the deck.
FWIW, dropping the rig on a DN is trivial for one person to do in almost all cases (the exception is if you have huge pre-tension on the rig, and even that's not too bad). I regularly drop the mast and sail to adjust the forestay tension, so I don't grind away the threads on the Staymaster (or have to cary an adjustable wrench with me). The process is: 1) lay the boat off at a slight angle to the wind (just enough that one side is clearly windward). 2) detatch the leeward sidestay (easy to do because the wind is pushing the mast towards it, so even if you let go nothing happens). 3) walk around to the windward side and tip the mast down (easy because the wind is supporting it). Re-stepping the mast is simply the reverse operation. If you have lots of rig tension, it's usually easy to compress the plank (and make the leeward sidestay slack) by pulling in on the mainsheet.
Cheers,
Geoff S.
US-5156