Hi Jack, My M-17 headstay has a Johnson Marine Quick-Release Shroud Lever at the bottom to make the attachment easy. It opens up a few extra inches to get the pin in the bow stem plate, and then levers to make the headstay rigid. It works great, but I also always use 2 people to set my mast. As it happens, I am installing a CDI furler, and am having a new headstay fabricated that works with the furler and does not have the lever. Luckily I have my boat on a buoy all summer, and do not need to raise the mast often. Have fun, Doug Vogel M-17 Tieline On May 17, 2012, at 7:23 PM, Jack Zukowski wrote:
Hello everyone, Just wanted to thank all of you for your warm and welcoming response. I really appreciate that. My biggest and only issue that I can think of after setting the boat up only once is connecting the forestay after raising the mast. I am not very agile anymore and find it difficult to get down on my knees and and put that pin in, also not comfortable walking up on the bow to do so. I am afraid of losing the forestay and having the mast come down. I need to rig up some kind of safety between the mast and the forward cleat or bow rail so that I can safely get off the boat to install that forward pin. I sail alone often and my wife Beth still works and generally only sails with me on the weekends. I am wondering if anyone has a simple solution to my problem.
Thanks, Jack and Beth