I hate to be a downer, but I had one of those when I purchased my first catamaran (Hobie 16). I would have saved myself a whole lot of time by making arrangements to have a friend join me for all mast stepping ceremonies. I hope someone else can divulge the secret to making it work.
Eventually, I did my own one-man mast stepping system that worked well, though involved a little muscle.
Picture this:
Do whatever you can to remove anything that will cause any lines to catch (as in . . . leave the rudders off).
Get that mast attached to whatever ball/step you have in place and attach your side-stays. Attach your trap lines, but pull the ends off to the sides so they don't get in the way.
In the ideal world, you'd grab the forestay with your bear hands and lift it up. Simple, right? That's obviously not going to happen.
Here's where it gets a little tricky. Picture yourself getting to a piont where you're standing on the tramp, you have the mast started on it's way up and you have it resting comfortably (well. . . .) on your shoulder. The next thing you would wish for is some kind of line in your hand that runs toward the front of the boat, loops around the bridal (or preferably a block mounted on the trailer) and up to the forestay base.
Once you have the mast on an angle, you can start to pull on that magical line and heave all the way up. It gets easier with every foot of line you reel in. Oh . .. make sure you're wearing some gloves.
Things get a little dicey once you have the mast up . . . think about it . . becuase you have the mast all the way up . . . you're on the tramp . . . . and you would love it if someone were to walk by that could hook up the forestay. Well . . that might not happen. Instead, you have to tie off that line (perhaps around the base of the mast. . use a knot you can trust).
Next, grab one of those trap lines and walk up to the bridle/forestay area. Give a good tug on the trap line, release the forestay and hook it up to the bridle.
At this point, you should say a little prayer to someone that you didn't hurt yourself, anyone else and didn't damage your boat or any other local structures.
This isn't for the weak at heart or if your around any living soul. I wouldn't consider myself an expert, but I've done it a few times and it did work out ok (on a Hobie 16). Also, if it's at all windy, don't even try it. But then again, why would you be sailing a catamaran if it isn't windy???
You could do all of the above .. . . or . .. . just make sure a friend meets you to step the mast. That's the only EZ Step I know of.
Good luck.
Mike
