Strange rake on mast

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pcatterall

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Just at Fleetwood being dragged around the shops.
There is a cat there with a mast racked backed about 15 degrees, looked very strange to me. This was a deliberate rake not an accident. Is this normal on some cats? what benefits may there be. The makers name was on the boom cover, forgotton it but may recall with prompting!!
 
I would suspect that the advantage of raking the mast is that you can have the mast step well forward while the centre of effort of the sail is still aft where it needs to be.
They may want the mast base well forward to facilitate a longer open area ander the cabin top before the mast support intrudes or wish to fit in a pop top.
Provided the sail area centre is correctly located mast rake makes no difference although I think it looks bad. olewill
 
Yes - its a Dean Cat - she's moored opposite us (in the corner near the toilets at Freeport?). There's one in the Royal Quays marina up in Newcastle too where our house is - they do look very odd in a marina full of vertical masts!

You probabaly saw our boat if you could see the cat - the Colvic Countess 37 with red sail covers moored in the main channel on the far side of the marina /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Jonny
 
I think it does indeed move the sail plan back. Also with a cat that sails downwind mainly on very big headsails it increases the genoa area. Interestingly schooners and clippers often had highly raked masts too. the backward rake was said to create a triangle that allowed the shrouds to take some load off the backstays when running downwind that way especially on the mainmast of a schooner that has no forestay to the masthead. Arab Dhows do the same.. Prouts like mine have the mast set very far aft to get a forestay angle that gives lift in a gust. It is actually very interesting to see the bows lift when a big gust comes! I guess the same is achieved with a high rake on a mast set further forward....
 
Yes Dean was the name ( it was in my head somewhere)
Cant recall the countess though I am usually looking for that distinctive colvic hull. Perhaps the Countess has different lines from the smaller colvics.
Lots of Fishers and fisher types around, must be the Fleetwood weather.
Thanks, guys, for the interesting info
 
I know the boat you mean in Royal Quays, I park just down the pontoon from her.

The angle of rake appears to be much more on that boat than on the ones in the pictures of Deans.

It certainly does look odd, and must put considerable load on the forestay. I would have thought a lateen rig would have been mechanically stronger, and probably lighter too.
 
Which boat are you on?

We live on the Royal Quays (in the houses on the hard standing side of the marina) - so a stroll around the marina is our nightly ritual in the absence of being able to play on our boat which is kept in Fleetwood.

Jonny
 
Obviously not just on Cats ... met this one in the Morray Firth Summer 2007... Quite traditional looking but wih heavy rake on masts ..

DSC_0145.jpg
 
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