by GreenLake » Sat Feb 18, 2017 11:57 pm
Excellent question. The answer is no. When you lift the mast manually, there's enough control so you can easily prevent if from slipping forward in the sleeve. Once it is raised far enough that the bottom "corner" of the mast foot is inside the mast partners, it cannot slide further forward, and in fact, will be forced back a bit as the mast gets raised further. That does not seem to impede operations. So, there's no need for a pin.
(With a tripod, if you are by yourself, a pin is useful, or you'll end up not having enough hands at one point - if you use the tripod and replace the purchase with leading the rope to the trailer winch, then you won't even be able to reach the mast while you crank).
If you build it, make the mast sleeve just tight enough that the mast will slide when perfectly aligned. Same for your mast partners (or the opening you cut into the disk). It's nice if the mast just "stops" if it's misaligned - helps aim for the mast step on the keel.
~ green ~ lake ~ ~