Joe, I have an M17 and have trailered her all over the country. I check and adjust the shrouds every so often and then leave them alone.? I do have lever adjusters on the upper shrouds ( like on some catamarans) which I use, but every so often I leave them tightened.? At 65 I am not as strong or as active as I was 10, or even 20 years ago, but I have no difficulty raising the mast with the shrouds at their set tension.? I always have a?safety line attached to the forestay, run through a block attached to the bow and then lead back to the clam cleat I have behind the winch on the port side of the cabintop. Always a good idea to have a safety line.? The backstay is adjustable and it is loose, obviously, when I raise the mast, but a quick pull on the tension adjuster tightens it up completely once the forestay is attached.? I have hank on head sails so I can't address the roller furling concern.? When I am organized ( which admittedly isn't very often) it takes about 15 - 20 minutes to have the boat rigged and ready to launch.?? When I am setting out on a longer cruise it can take me a long time, since I tend to work slowly..after all I am retired, why hurry!? But if I had just a day sail on the agenda, I believe I could even reduce the set up time a bit more by reducing some ofthe things I do for a longer trip?and getting as many things as possible ready in advance. John Miss T M17 # 372 -----Original Message----- From: Joe Murphy <seagray@embarqmail.com> To: For and about Montgomery Sailboats <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Sun, Aug 16, 2009 10:28 pm Subject: M_Boats: Bringing down the mast A question for those of you that regularly trailer your M17 and have to take the mast down. Can it be done without making any adjustments to the shrouds? With a roller furling, does the sail have to be removed first? (I have a CDI) Other tips to simplify the process? And lastly, how in the world do you guys do all this in 30-45 minutes????? Joe? Seafrog M17 ? _______________________________________________? http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats? ? Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!?