Thanks to Simon West (A5 Diaphony) for helping – we managed to drop the mast (literally) onto the deck and not into the water (nearly!). Colchide does not have the handy frame on the shrouds which I now realise is really important for controlling the drop. As it was, we got to an angle of about 30deg off the deck before the mast skewed to the left as we could not keep it central – it happened really quickly and was a bit of a surprise. Main learning – if you don’t have the frame, you need at least 3 people and preferably a bit of height to manage the lowering under control. The only loss was a split pin and a slightly bend non-critical rigging part (£5). Mind you, in trying to save the cost of a marina, almost wrote it all off – so worth getting it right. However, part of the allure of the Atalanta is that (theoretically>..) you can do lots yourself! That said, dropping is easier – definitely want a pro to put it back up properly and getting the tension right and locking everything off.
Well done to the both of you for getting it down. Sounds a bit hairy.
Being able to raise and lower the mast without a crane is a real bonus in any boat, particularly for a trailer sailer.
There are all sorts of systems. The frames you mention are certainly a real boon and with the hinged Atalanta mast step do really make a difference. Well worth having a set made up. Those on Atalanta Mary are arranged with the inboard leg more upright than the Fairey drawing reducing the degree to which they obstruct the sidedeck – worth having a look at.
Atalanta Mary version: https://atalantaowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/382-P1010093_resized-1024×768.jpg
Standard version on A169 Elle: https://atalantaowners.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/IMG_0214.jpeg
Quite a lot has been written – search the Online Index on the Reference page or use the Search link top right to find some of it. E.g. https://atalantaowners.org/raising-and-lowering-the-mast/
Cheers
Nick
The inboard leg can also be made removable as a bolt-on. The system on Elle was made this way – the inboard legs have a lock- nut attachment to each end – i.e. rather than welding the top end.