Courtesy of Hall Spars

In the pre-assemble shop, Jim Gagnon drills a hole in the masthead assembly for a lightning rod holder.

March 2006: The masthead crane has been glued into the machined opening at the top of the mast, then reinforced with extra carbon cloth wetted out with an aerospace-type epoxy. The backstay attaches to a pin that inserts through the crane near Gagnon's head. The main halyard sheave is pinned through the hole to the right of his drill and the 2-to-1 halyard is dead-ended at a pin through the hole by the Hall Spars logo on his t-shirt. Two masthead sheaves are available on the front of the mast (at bottom); the headstay attaches a few feet below the masthead.

Courtesy of Hall Spars

Another part gets fitted in pre-assembly: the ramp that will guide the mainsail luff from the mast groove to the roller-furling boom.

March 2006: Here's the missing ramp being positioned on the back of the mast for gluing. It's a tapered, 45-foot piece that guides the luff of the mainsail away from the mast and smoothly into the roller-furling main boom.