Sunshine - a GRP Tiki 21
Here is Sunshine, a GRP Tiki 21 with modified cabin tops, bought (not built!!!) to fill the need for a boat with some accommodation until the Tiki 30 gets built. Many thanks to Adrian for doing half the delivery; we ended up leaving a day early to complete the delivery to Edinburgh to avoid the snow (the M74 was closed for part of the following day).
During the 2006 season Sunshine went to Loch Melfort for a PCA meet, and since September 2006 has lived in the Forth at Burntisland Sailing Club. I have started collecting pictures of Sunshine in the Sailing Gallery.
How to raise a Tiki 21 mast solo ...
Sunshine lived on her trailer at Port Edgar for a while before I finally got her in the water, which was not until the meet at Loch Melfort. I had a go at assembly - the first time I put a Tiki 21 together myself; I was interested to see if my plan for raising the mast would work!
It didn't take too long to get the beams and platform assembled; I found that after the mast beam is lashed, the three platform components can be dropped in by tilting the aft beam back on its sockets. I was initially concerned that there were no cleats next to the beam lashing pads to tie off the lashings (they are in the Tiki 21 design, and Aoraki has them as well!). However there is no problem - a loop on one end of the lashing allows it to be tensioned initially, and also tied off through the loop. No cleats needed at all.
I found it very useful to have some stepladders as the platform is quite high up wih Sunshine on her trolleys, which have quite large wheels. Yes, the cabin hatches could be more aesthetically pleasing, but they work OK!
I had made a simple crane jib arm 2.4m long with a base (with leather padded feet) to sit on the mast beam. The mainsail halyards are tied off to give about a 3m tail beyond the knot so they will reach the mast beam cleats; they then form an "A" to hold the mast straight as it is raised. The mast foot has a substantial slot, with a key on the step, to hold the foot as the mast goes up.
The forestay and jib halyard are then tied off at the end of the crane jib, and another rope was used to pull hard to get the mast up! I have now made up a three part tackle to make that job a lot easier.
Here's the view from the stern; the shrouds are tightened up, and the mainsail halyards still in place.
Here's the mast raising tackle (after lowering the mast which took just a couple of minutes). The crane jib is kept at right angles to the mast to give maximum leverage. Even so, addition of a tackle to give a better pull when raising the mast will make a big difference.
The end of the rope used to raise the mast is tied off on the forward beam for convenience. When I use the tackle, it will be attached to the middle of the forestay bridle.
The mast is put into a crutch to help reduce the pull needed on raising, and the crutch carefully sited to receive the mast when lowering it!
I did find it a pull to get the hulls on their trolleys back onto the trailer, and was very grateful to Adrian who had clearly lubricated the trailer winch! Even so, I will make a couple of little ramps to get the trolley wheels up onto the trailer more easily.