Sailing dinghy- converting bolt rope to sleeve?

[Sea Change]

I'm trying to cobble together a rig for a dinghy, at minimal cost.
I've got a really nice sail which has a bolt rope. The mast it came with is too heavy for the dinghy, but it has an external track that I could remove and reuse.
The new mast is from an old windsurf rig (thanks @geem !) but obviously that has no track.

So to marry the two up, I think my options are:
1- rivet/screw/epoxy the aluminium track on to the grp mast (this doesn't sound like a very good idea to me)
2- pony up the money to get a sailmaker to add a sleeve to the sail
3- punch in a series of eyes along the luff (cheap and easy DIY job) and add lashings to act as mast hoops

The third option is clearly the one I'm leaning towards, is there any reason why it won't work?

 

[westernman]

I'm trying to cobble together a rig for a dinghy, at minimal cost.
I've got a really nice sail which has a bolt rope. The mast it came with is too heavy for the dinghy, but it has an external track that I could remove and reuse.
The new mast is from an old windsurf rig (thanks @geem !) but obviously that has no track.

So to marry the two up, I think my options are:
1- rivet/screw/epoxy the aluminium track on to the grp mast (this doesn't sound like a very good idea to me)
2- pony up the money to get a sailmaker to add a sleeve to the sail
3- punch in a series of eyes along the luff (cheap and easy DIY job) and add lashings to act as mast hoops

The third option is clearly the one I'm leaning towards, is there any reason why it won't work?

No. 3 is how my 800 sq ft main is attached to the mast. I have a single piece of rope which is threaded from the top of the sail around the mast back through the eye, round the mast again, etc, etc, all the way to the bottom. It works perfectly. No need to chop into bits and make hoops.

You can also cut the luff of the sail to be slightly hollow, and in that way you can also control the flatness of the sail by tightening up the rope so the luff is pulled closer to the mast or leaves a couple of inches space.

Simple solution which works and offers an extra means of sail control.

 

[Daydream believer]

What holds this sailboard mast up?

 

[B27]

I would imagine the cheapest way forwards might be to buy or scrounge an old sail to fit the mast.
If it's an unstayed windsurfer mast, you will probably want a lot of luff curve to get it to set reasonably.

Another cheap way forwards might be a cut down laser rig. There are loads of bent top masts which will serve if you chop 18 inches off.

Or you might use a laser sail on your mast, you might get a sail that's no good for racing for little or no money.

There are loads of cheap dinghies around which are no longer good enough for racing, these can often be had for very little money. Many sailing clubs have abandoned ones they need to get rid of

People do glue mast tracks on, but the correct glue is expensive.

 

[B27]

What holds this sailboard mast up?

Good question!
Unstayed masts have to be very strong at the bottom!
A sailboard mast does not see those forces.

 

[Sea Change]

What holds this sailboard mast up?

It has a foot and then partners about 18" up from that. The dinghy is specifically designed for an unstayed rig and I've been sailing it as such for a couple of years.

 

[Sea Change]

I would imagine the cheapest way forwards might be to buy or scrounge an old sail to fit the mast.
If it's an unstayed windsurfer mast, you will probably want a lot of luff curve to get it to set reasonably.

Another cheap way forwards might be a cut down laser rig. There are loads of bent top masts which will serve if you chop 18 inches off.

Or you might use a laser sail on your mast, you might get a sail that's no good for racing for little or no money.

There are loads of cheap dinghies around which are no longer good enough for racing, these can often be had for very little money. Many sailing clubs have abandoned ones they need to get rid of

People do glue mast tracks on, but the correct glue is expensive.

I've already scrounged, found, and otherwise acquired a whole assortment of sails and spars. I'm hoping to cobble together a good practical rig from what I've got, and then get rid of the leftovers.

I've had my eyes peeled for an old Laser rig for years with no luck. If I was on the south coast of England it would be pretty easy, but I'm not there.

At the risk of being boringly comprehensive, I have:
- an OK class mast, modified to be two piece, plus a boom I made for it. This mast works but it's very heavy and makes the boat quite unstable and impractical.
- the OK sail, with a couple of extra eyes added to reduce the area and adjust the shape to meet my needs. This sail is on excellent condition and is the one I want to work with.
- a 420 training sail which is the same size and has two sets of reefs, but has a blown bolt rope so is barely usable without repair.
- a 4-piece windsurf mast plus sail, this is my current rig of choice. Sometimes I use it without the wishbone if I'm doing a short shopping run etc. It's a little smaller than the boat was designed for (5.5 vs 6.5m²) and the lower part of the sail gets in the way inside the boat. It's a bit like having a kicker attached too far aft on your boom. Overall it's a good rig and works well, but the wishbone is a pain, and the sail itself is getting very tired with several rips.
- a leg-o-mutton rig kindly donated by Geem. This has a windsurf mast and a long wooden boom. It's too big as-is but I'm thinking of using the mast combined with the OK sail. The sail that came with this rig would need to be cut down a lot to fit my dinghy properly.

Tl;dr- I don't want to go picking up any more bits of dinghy rig, surely I have enough to with already!

 

[Sea Change]

So clearly my previous post was a bit boring

Thinking about adding eyes to the luff: what sort of spacing should I go for? As a starting point, I already have a set of eight eyelets, so given there's already eyes top and bottom that would give a spacing of 49cm.

I'm not looking to win races with this boat, just get to the shops with minimal fuss.

 

[Thistle]

So clearly my previous post was a bit boring

Thinking about adding eyes to the luff: what sort of spacing should I go for? As a starting point, I already have a set of eight eyelets, so given there's already eyes top and bottom that would give a spacing of 49cm.

I'm not looking to win races with this boat, just get to the shops with minimal fuss.

Have a look at a Mirror rig. This uses a sail laced to the mast so the tried and tested spacing there would seem to be a good starting point.

 

[DownWest]

I was kindly sent a set of used sails from Holland at a very good price. The spacing was about 50cm for the lacing which sounded big. This is for a track with sliders, so will go with it.
I used a smaller spacing on my gunter rig on the fearing, That works well. Laced tight to the spar, looser on the mast.
You can just see the mast lacing, but not the yard.