I purchased one from Murray's several years ago. If I had the talent, I probably could have made one myself for less money however.....honestly, it was (is) a great tool for me.

I sail solo 99% of the time, and trailered my P-18 to various locales. Raising that mast alone is a huge pain. Very easy to hurt the back and that just isn't worth it. Trying to find someone to help me all of the time is also a pain.

When I bought the Stepper, I took the boat to a large parking lot and practiced the set up and take down several times until I had the technique worked out. I made a wooden stand to hold the aft end of the mast while I was hooking everything up.

The P-18 mast needs to go up sideways so on suggestion from another Prindle owner, I added an uphaul line to the hounds (thanks for the help, GARY) and used that instead of the forestay for raising it.

I was never 100% worry free as I eyed the mast going up...hey! what if something fails? So I tried to winch it up fast through the tougher sections.

I have heard of the pole failing and others replacing it with a stronger version.

I keep my boat in mast up storage now at the dock so I don't use the Stepper anymore but I admit it was exactly the tool that I needed to allow me to set up solo with a minimum of help and I have no regrets having paid the $$ for it.

Sheldon
P-18