[Denr]

It sounds as if you''ve answered your own question. In Chicago where we have snowy, blowing conditions in winter it just makes sense to take the mast down. With the mast down you can completely cover to boat, stem to stern. This saves weathering of the gel coat, prevents water from melting on those warm days into the spider cracks and freezing again at night which turns the spider cracks into bigger cracks. Bigger cracks must be repaired by costly professionals so as not to damage the integrity of the core. Water also melts and freezes each warming cycle of the winter into the upward facing swaged fittings. Cracks of these fittings and costly replacements will soon follow. One has only to spend a few minutes on a windy winter day to appreciate the big reason why one should take the mast down. It literally shakes your boat apart. The few hundred additional dollars saved by not taking the mast down is penny wise and pound foolish in a northern climate. With all of the damage one can potentially suffer in just one winter season you could get a free mast take down on one of those blustery spring days. The old saying “pay me now or pay me later” applies here. A few weeks lost sailing is simply not worth the pennies saved. Your boat will look better for years by covering it during the winter. Save some money by storing the stick on the boat rather than a spar tree if you want to save bucks! Those that leave their mast up (in the northern climates) are either foolish or lazy!