But doesn't mean you have to be a professional. There are about 170 boats in my club and we all take our masts down ourselves. It's not often that I hear of damage from masting. There have been a couple of bent masts and the occasional lost turnbuckle over the years (I dropped one in the harbour several years ago). Because of the nature of our club, there are a lot of people with years of experience in raising in and lowering masts so it's always easy to find experienced help. If I had the choice, I'd probably still lower my mast every year because it's the easiest way to get a good inspection.