To do the mast in front of the bows thing you need to have a step that will work from the front of the ball so that the mast can pivot to the front.

On the ht we had to move the mast step hinge from the back of the mast base to the front, and then it would pivot to the front.

So, the mast base is pinned into the ball/hinge, with the mast in between the bows. Take the rest of my instructions from the first post.

Does that clear it up?

I think its easier to work from the ground when raising your mast, as opposed to the tramp. You have way more room to walk the mast up, as opposed to a clean a jerk kind of motion from the tramp. Plus you are putting a lot of stress on the tramp, plus the tramp isnt that solid a surface to work off of. The ground is much easier, your legs dont have to work as hard keeping you steady on a spongy surface.

And the HT mast isnt light, its about the same as a i20 mast.

On the Acat we do it the same way, mast forward. Actually the light weight of the Acat mast makes it harder to use this technique because the wind is a greater factor, the mast doesnt weigh enough to stay back while you pin the shrouds, the wind can blow it the other way if you are not careful.

Bill