I pinched this idea from the
Figaro class (short-handed
ocean racing yachts). My
topping lift is led aft from the
base of the mast, but I did not
want to drill extra holes for the
Having been almost run down
by a container ship in the Black
Deep, in the outer Thames
Estuary, I’ve fitted an Echomax
active radar responder plus an
AIS transponder.
The AIS is less for notifying
ships of my position, more so I
can see them and have details
of their course and speed. It
also tells my wife via Marine
Traffic Online where I am. Ships
have called me up from time to
time, as have the coastguard
and Dover port control.
The Echomax has a switch
which when turned on in less
populated waters will bleep
when painted by radar thus
alerting me to the presence of
another vessel.
I have not found the need to
place either unit up the mast,
choosing instead to place them
on smaller ‘mastlets’ mounted
on the pushpit.
To save the cost of stainless
steel for the mastlets I came up
with the solution of using a
redundant extending sailboard
boom. These extending booms
have many excellent qualities:
they have fairly long straight
sections; they are much thicker
than the standard 25mm
‘Floating’ jammer
controls Sam
Longley’s topping
lift and means he
hasn’t had to drill
any extra holes in
his yacht’s deck
One half of a black neoprene-
covered sailboard boom
clamped to the pushpit rails
The curve built in to the
adapted sailboard boom
means cable runs down inside
the boom and straight through
the deck gland
Echomax and AIS aerial masts
Sam Longley makes two masts out of a boom
Sam Longley avoids drilling holes
stainless steel tubing; the
anodized aluminium is excellent
quality and the bottom section
is covered in neoprene.
No expensive fittings were
required to fit the booms to the
pushpit: a pair of large U-bolts
for each from the Proboat range
fitted diagonally across the
junction of pole and pushpit did
the job perfectly – one arranged
diagonally one way and the
other at 90° to it.
By leaving a small amount of
the curve of the boom at the
Floating jammer
jam cleat, so I wrapped a
Dyneema cord around the
winch base and spliced it to an
aluminium plate via two
stainless steel thimbles.
Holding the front edge is a pair
bottom end, the tube curves in
to the deck gland so the wire is
not exposed at the bottom but
instead passes down the inside
and straight down into the deck.
My AIS aerial wire terminates
down below at the AIS control
box next to my VHF set. In the
unlikely event of a dismasting I
have the same end fittings so
I can swap aerial wires to the
VHF in a few minutes.
of thin lines, which are clamped
under a couple of the existing
cleats. Under the alloy plate I
have fixed two small rubber
door stops to prevent the nuts
marking the deck. A cam cleat
is bolted to the plate, and
there’s an eye on the ‘out’ side
to stop the line jumping off.
It all lines up with the winch so if
I needed to take a turn for extra
power, I could.