One person mast raising. I ditched the mahogany rudder and separate mast carrier in favor of the ruddercraft version with the telescoping mast raising pole. It stays in place permanently, as does a 3 part dinghy mainsheet attached to the bow. First I unship the mast from the carrier and extend it to full length. Then I lift the mast onto the raised carrier(it has a roller). I push the mast aft and make up the pin pivot at the mast base. The 3 part tackle is made up to the jib sheet and tensioned. The jamb cleat on the tackle holds tension. Standing on the seats in the cockpit I push the mast up and haul the slack. I get another bite and haul again. By this time I'm past the center of effort and the mast raises easily. A couple of turns on the jib winch and cleat. I go forward and pin the forestay. I frequently launch first and raise later at my convenience. I feel it is safer to rig on the water instead of 8 feet up on the hard. Once when I arrived at a bridge too early for an opening. I lowered the mast and went under. After passing the bridge I raised the rig and had a great sail on San Pablo Bay. All is done singlehanded. I was using the gin pole method, but after seeing a video of a guy raising a mast on his Catalina 22 using this method I figured it couldn't be too hard to do ona 17. Fewer parts, nothing to stow, launched and mast up in less than 30 min. Jon Barber Monty 17 Ol'44