I'm new to cat sailing and just bought an old 5.2. I was hoping for some advise on your preferred method to raise & lower the mast. I've single-hand wrestled mine up & down a few times & there must be a better way!!
There are any number of "gin pole" arrangements to be found out there. http:/
There is an upgrade available for the Nacra 5.2 that replaces the older 'non-captive' mast base casting with a casting that you can put a pin in to retain the mast base on the ball when stepping. I highly recommend if yours doesn't already have it installed. I upgraded mine and it makes such an incredible effort and safety difference. Murrays sells them for about $99 (see website)
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I also used to use a winch mounted on my trailor mast support to winch the mast up. I connected the hook to the forestay and had someone hold the mast up as high as possible and off to one side and started cranking. It's faster and easier just to step it manually in my opinion (although a bit tougher your back).
Here is something i built to help me solo step my mast for my 5.2
But it does require a captive mast base.
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