Let’s see, you would have to disconnect the backstays and the aft lower side stays at their chainplates.  The forward lower side stays would stay connected and the forestay + roller furler would remain tied off to the mast.  The backward rotation of the mast would be stopped by the forward lower side stays .  Port/starboard tipping of the masthead during mast stepping would be limited by the upper side stays.  Once the mast was raised, I would attach the back stays, then the forestay, and finally the forward lower side stays.  Then, you could disconnect the halyard and remove the gin pole.  I can picture the process working slick as a whistle.  So, next question, does the bottom of the gin pole fit into the table socket in the cockpit and are the guy lines sized to secure the gin pole in an upright position?

Please understand I’ve never actually seen your mast raising system in operation.  I’m just picturing how it might work in my mind.

Roger Pihlaja
S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
1978. Sanford, MI

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jun 29, 2024, at 5:47 PM, Kenwood _ <kenwood364 at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Oh, that's a strange idea but maybe yeah. Literally backwards gin pole, I
> can take some closeup pictures of the pole but, what you see is what you
> get. And there is no socket or anything like that forward of the tabernacle
> just, putting that out there.
>
>> On Sat, Jun 29, 2024, 5:41 PM ROGER PIHLAJA <roger_pihlaja at msn.com> wrote:
>>
>> By any chance, does your mast raising system work “backwards”?  ie, Start
>> with the mast bolted into the tabernacle and lying forward resting on the
>> bow pulpit.  Then, winch the mast up backwards using a halyard led to the
>> gin pole and winch?  The guy lines on the gin pole would still be rigged to
>> hold the gin pole vertical.  I can see how this strategy would work using
>> only the pieces/parts in the photo.
>>
>> Roger Pihlaja
>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>> 1978. Sanford, MI
>>
>> Sent from my iPhone
>>
>>> On Jun 29, 2024, at 4:25 PM, ROGER PIHLAJA <Roger_Pihlaja at msn.com>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Kenwood,
>>>
>>> The male pin and tabernacle in the picture looks like it’s designed to
>> plug into the cockpit socket for the galley table.  The guy lines look like
>> they would attach to the stern cleats and the winches port and starboard
>> and would hold the gin pole vertical.  Do you have a block that attaches to
>> the forestay?  It looks like you would run a halyard to the block on the
>> bow forestay, then back to the block on the end of the gin pole, and down
>> to the winch.
>>>
>>> This is very different from the mast raising system on my boat.  On my
>> boat, the base of the gin pole attaches to a fitting on the leading edge of
>> the cabin roof.  The forward lower side stays are attached to the gin pole
>> near the upper end.  The winch line on the gin pole runs to the bow cleat.
>> To step the mast, the gin pole starts vertical and pivots downward from its
>> base towards the bow as the mast is winched upward.
>>>
>>> Stan went thru a number of different versions of the mast stepping
>> system.  You must have an early version.
>>>
>>> Never having used your system, I can’t comment on how well it works.  I
>> think I have the newest version and it works pretty well.
>>>
>>> Roger Pihlaja
>>> S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
>>> 1978. Sanford, MI
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>>> On Jun 29, 2024, at 2:39 PM, Kenwood _ <kenwood364 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> All the reading I've done online talks about a ginpole but... Mine
>> doesn't
>>>> rly look like that? It has a socket and foot that looks like it's.meant
>> to
>>>> socket into the cockpit. I don't understand! I was planning on
>> dismantling
>>>> the whole thing and turning it into a ginpole by removing the foot and
>>>> adding a rubber plate. What do you all think though? Is this simpler to
>> use
>>>> than I think?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thanks!
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