Mast lowering with sail and boom attached

[Doncs]

Has any one had experience lowering the mast with the sail and boom on? I am planning a run with low bridges involved and that could be a deal breaker....thanks Don

[escape]

Hi, I always leave the boom on the mast when lowering the mast but I do not leave the sail on. When traveling I wrap the sail in its sail cover and leave it on the deck or inside the boat. I tie down all the lazy jack lines, hail yards, ropes, electric wires,… before lowering. I did not try to raise the boom parallel to the mast with the sail on, but with the full battens I am not sure it would work. My boat is already out of the water so I will not be able to try this until next summer. You might also need some kind of support for the roller furling drum.

[Ron]

Some of the boats have a double hinged boom. There is an approx. 1 foot extension coming out of the gooseneck. The boom pivets sideways at the goose neck, and vertically at the end of the extension. Tony did this so the flaked main would have a place to stay when the boom with sail are raised up or the mast lowered. I've never done it, and it would be somewhat difficult with my stiff Kevlar sail. It might be impossible to store any sail in this position without the extension.

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[escape]

I have the boom extension and the Kevlar full batten sail, not sure it would fit in such narrow space but it sure would be nice

[Doncs]

I do not have the extension. Has any one done a partial lowering to pass under a bridge?

[Gene]

The rig has very little lateral strength during the raising/lowering process. Others have suffered damage due to boat wakes while attempting to do what you ask!