Winner's Announced in Design Contest for tools to help step a Lightning Mast
Laura Jeffers | Published on 1/9/2024
The Classic Boat Group held a contest and we have a winner!
One of the recurrent questions we get is for help putting up and taking down the mast. As a few of us are "beginning" to show signs of age this is becoming a larger challenge.
The mission was to come up with a design for tool(s) to help us step and take down our masts.
15 real engineers, pretend engineers, and Rube Goldberg wannabe's submitted designs. The criteria is listed below.
Design Criteria (Subject to revision)
- Safety, can be used to safely step a Lightning mast up to 50 lbs
- Simplicity and cost of construction
- Simplicity of use
- Speed and ease of setup and takedown
- Ability to be successfully step mast with just one person
- Portability, can be used on any (most?) Lightnings
- Portability, can be transported in car or attached to boat or trailer
This competition was for fun.
See all of the submissions here: www.astrove.net/mast/index.htm
Thank you to all that made submissions!