Longer mast

[Andrewells]

I am helping my friend fit out an 11 metre steel yacht from a bare hull and he has been offered a mast and rigging at half price. This is obviously a significant saving and is very tempting. The only problem is that the offered mast is 1.7 metres longer than the design mast of 12.6 metres. The beam of the yacht is 3.4 metres,displacement 12000kg, draft 1.5 metres and the ballast 2800kg. The mast has furling gear incorporated in it and cannot be cut down to size. It would be difficult to increase the ballast.
If the mast was installed in the boat the righting moment would obviously be affected. Can earlier reefing/furling satisfactorily compensate?What other problems should be considred before a decision is made?
Any advice would be most welcome
Andrew

Andrewells

 

[Guest]

If it's in mast furling the sail will have no roach and a much smaller area than a similar sized slab reefing sail. You might find that the sail areas more or less match.

Regards,

Peter
http://www.mistressofmourne.com

 

[peterk]

Hi,

I've played around with masts and ballast a bit

looking at length and beam and the heavy displacement of your boat
you would not have any problem with a mast of the
projected length, regular or roller-cut sails.
You ought to consider more ballast, there is too little of it !
Displ:ballast ratio is about 4 to 1(in modern boats more like to 2:1
steel boats, esp. with a steel deck(extra weight above the waterline)
require much more than you name- perhaps that is why the original mast is so short - combined with the lack of ballast
to avoid excessive tenderness.
That boat, as described would be slug in light airs.
The taller mast with more sail area and more ballast
(experiment with removable
iron pigs) would be a boon

peter, www.juprowa.com/kittel

 

[oldsaltoz]

G’day Andrew.
Have a close look at the changes required in the deck plan for this taller mast, you might find more problems not mentioned so far. Headsail tracks may have to be relocated for the correct angle of attack and depending on the design this may or may not be practical or desirable.

Avagoodweekend Old Salt Oz……

 

[graham]

Someone with enough skill too build a steel yacht should have no problem rearranging the deck hardware to accomodate the taller mast.

Just be aware that the sheeting angles off a nonstandard rig will be different than the design so possibly fit the genoa tracks etc after the mast is up to ensure you dont end up having to move them .

An inmast main reefing system usually leads to a less efficient mainsail so the extra sail area may be usefull.

. Also combined with a genoa roller reefer or cutter rig you will be able to reduce the sail area very quickly when needed.

I am not a design expert but if it was me I would go for it.

Unless the rigging is new or little used you would be wise to renew it so have you allowed for this in the price calculations?

 

[Joe_Cole]

Sorry if it's obvious but can you shorten the mast?

Joe