the-renovator wrote: using strong flat rubber bungees attached to the trap wires to provide forward tension to hold the mast up.
This is what I use as well. I've tried double bungees, but they would not provide enough tension. One issue with flat rubber bungee -- it can break without warning. My new upgrade will be replacing the rubber with a set of 4-6x regular bungees in parallel. See how this goes.
This is my setup, as well as discussion on the same topic:
http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=51335&start=15
The triangular mechanism I built is just a couple of chain link fence top rails welded to a piece of angle iron and with another small piece of angle iron welded in at the top where the two poles come together to form a V for the forestay/halyard to ride in.
The bottom angle iron piece is probably around 4 feet wide with the fence posts angle grinded and welded one on each end of the angle, then welded together at the top with the small 1.5" piece of angle iron holding it together. It is a very crude design that I just threw together with stuff I had laying around the house to try to make something work. I've only used it a couple of times when I had my younger kids with me. But it supports the full weight of the mast for the lifting and if I had a way to keep it from swaying side to side (I like the bungee idea and will try that this year) I could solo raise the mast. The triangular mechanism isn't fastened down, so as you start winching and lifting the mast, the triangle actually tilts forward with the pressure from the cable and once you have your tension on it with the mast up, will typically fall down. Allowing it to tilt as the mast raises keeps it from damaging the insulation on the cable.
I am able to raise the mast myself by just pinning it at the base and picking it up from the back of the tramp, rest it on my knees, then scoop it up and step it up the rest of the way. The problem there is getting the forestay pinned if you don't have someone there to assist. I've heard of another way of doing it, which is to attach a pulley to the bridle rig, attach a rope to the halyard or forestay and run it through the pulley and back to one of the jib cleats and through, then maybe clip it on your waste. Then step the mast and keep one hand up supporting the mast while you use your other hand to pull the rope through the cleat and lock it down to hold the mast up. Then you can go pin the forestay. I have the stuff to do this, but haven't tried it yet either as I've always had one of my kids with me to sail.
Thanks Carl. I used that jib cleat method by myself and yes, it works fine. I can step the mast myself by picking it up too but I just wanted a way to make it safer for me and anyone near.