Gin Pole

Capri 22 mast raising with a gin pole.

My first boat was a Catalina 22, and for years I always used myself and one other person to raise the mast. We'd stand on the cabin top on either side of the mast, grab hold and pivot it up. After watching some C25 sailors use a gin pole, I became curious about adapting it for single-handed raising and lowering of the mast.

I designed a simple system for the Catalina 22 that has been replicated by many sailors.  My objectives were:

1. Be safely able to let go of the mast at any angle should something like the backstay foul.
2. Prevent side to side movement of the mast when the shrouds are slack.
3. Use mechanical advantage to lift and lower the mast so that any size person can be successful.
4. Do it all for very little money.

I was immediately impressed with how easy it was to raise and lower the mast by myself using the gear.  While it took longer to set up than just grabbing the mast and swinging it up, it made the whole process a lot less stressful particularly if something hung up and I had to go clear it.

Based on my success on the Catalina 22, I adapted the design to the Capri 22 along with a few material upgrades in the bridle to reduce stretch in the temporary shrouds.

96" long gin pole on a Capri 22.

The gin pole is constructed from materials you can get from Home Depot and Walmart. It includes:

• A 2x4 (96" long)
• Two U-bolts
• A Block (I used a spare one I had laying around)
• A trailer winch
• A red nylon strap with racket tensioning
• A 4" Eye-Bolt with a fender washer
• Line to run from the winch, through the block, and to a bow cleat. (I used some spare line)
• The jib halyard connects to the eye-bolt and should be tensioned so the gin pole is perpendicular to the mast. The forestay is not used in the mast raising process, therefore it will be free to attach to the stem fitting once the mast is up.

I've seen eye-bolts used in place of the u-bolts, but I liked the idea of spreading the load over a larger area. To each u-bolt I added additional nuts and fender washers so the 2x4 was sandwiched between a nut and washer on the top and the bottom.

The blue line gets attached to the stem fitting for a bow cleat.

A low-cost trailer winch can be found everywhere and for a few more dollars you can upgrade to a winch that ratchets in both directions.  Ratcheting in both directions is useful because the winch will hold the mast at any angle either raising or lowering if you have to step away during the process.

Red nylon strap secures gin pole to mast.

Winch rachets in both directions.

Mast end of gin pole.

The end of the gin pole that rests against the mast is cut and sanded to fit the contour of the mast. The nut end of the eye-bolt anchors one end of the nylon strap. The strap passes around the mast and the black hook attaches to the eye-bolt. With everything in place, the ratchet mechanism is used to tighten the strap and secure the gin pole to the mast.

Raising the Mast by Yourself

When you have a helper, they can steady the mast and keep it from swaying from side to side as you use the gin pole. What about doing it all by yourself?  To do that you are going to need a bridle that can provide the side to side support you get from the shrouds once the mast is up.

Dyneema bridle.

The bridle is made of two rings, three shackles, and some Dyneema low-stretch line. None of the hardware has to be stainless steel since you'll probably be storing the gear in your garage when not in use.

The ring needs to be at the same height as the mast step bolt.

The bridle's substitute shrouds need an attachment point that is at the same height as the mast bolt so the substitute shrouds remain taut throughout the mast raising or lowering operation.  In the case of the bridle that means the top of the ring needs to be at the height of the bolt.

Connecting the bridle to the deck is where my design had to vary from the Catalina 22.  Where the Catalina 22 has two lower shrouds per side, the Capri 22 has only one.  My solution was to use a shackle to connect to the turnbuckle of the lower shroud, and then to use the stanchion base as the other attachment point.

The shackle at the top of the bridle is attached to the main halyard.

The upper end of the bridle is attached to the main halyard. A short length of line is tied around the mast and through the shackle. This line keeps the upper end of the bridle close to the mast.  The next step is to pull the main halyard tight, thus tensioning the bridle.

With all the gear in place and tensioned, you are ready to raise the mast. Move to the winch and start cranking the mast up.  Watch for shrouds and stays snagging along the way.  The beauty of the gin pole combined with a bridle is that you can stop with the mast at any position if you need to step away to free something that has fouled, and you don't need to worry about the mast leaning to port or starboard during the entire process.