I am looking at a used Futaba RC sailboat to buy as my first. The owner had it as a gift and does not know how to remove the mast to get it in my car. Can anyone help me please?
Yes, we all would love to help but more information is needed please.
We would need a picture of your yacht for the best advise.
There is no such thing as a “Futaba” yacht (to my knowledge) that is the name of the Radio control manufacturer.
Normally you would simply undo the stays holding the mast upright and the whole unit would lift out.
If you have something different then a picture would allow us to assist.
Best of luck.
Apologies, I’m a newbie to RC yachting. The RC is Furtaba, the yacht has the name Northwood on it. I am attaching a picture (I hadn’t realised I could- new to forums too). Thanks for taking the time to look and responding, much appreciated.
You’ll have to use some intuition and ingenuity because the photo does not show a lot of detail. Assuming that the boat is correctly setup, before doing anything, take a good look at the boat and note the tightness (or looseness) of the stays that hold the mast up.
If it has not already been done, disconnect the sheet lines. Most likely there are two of them, one for each boom. These are the lines that pull each boom towards the center of the boat. The method of attachment is not shown; you will need to figure out how to un-do them. It is much less awkward to do it first, then to be holding the sails in one hand while removing the sheets with the other.
It looks like you have what are called bowsies to maintain adjustment of the stays. There are four stays: one at each side of the boat near the mast position, one at the stern (the back), and one at the bow (the front). You slide the bowsie along the stay.
You need to slack the backstay enough to un-hook it from whatever it is hooked to. You may then be able to tilt the top of the mast forward enough to also un-hook the side stays. If that doesn’t go easily, slack one of the sidestays and un-hook it. Then un-hook the other sidestay and the forestay. You should then be able to lift the entire rig off the boat.
Putting it back on is essentially the same process in reverse. The less you un-adjusted when removing the rig is the less you have to re-adjust when putting it back on.
The sidestays should hold the mast neither more to one side than the other. They should have equal tension; only enough to keep the top of the mast from moving sideways. In order to maintain the existing rig setup, only adjust the bowsies that you loosened when un-rigging.
The back stay should range from slightly snug to slightly loose. The forestay shouldn’t need to be adjusted, because it wasn’t un-adjusted.
NONE OF THE STAYS SHOULD BE TIGHT!
Re-attach the sheets and you’re back in business.
Hope this helps.