Ricardo Ramalho

hi Garry! what I tried to say is that a rotating mast with stays does not require fancy bearings, only the self standing masts do, I belive. In beach cats, for example, (and some big catamarans), with rotating masts and stays, there is a simple solid plastic ball (a sphere made of nylon, or some hard plastic) at the mast base, so the mast rests on the top of the ball. The ball system makes rotation easy, and it helps removing the mast. As mentioned by another colleague, lowering and raising the heavy mast of a 28 feet boat is not going to be very frequent, nor easy.

hi everybody! nice meeting you all in this great boats forum! I have some experience with rotating mast: normaly it is supported by stays, that makes the pivoting system a lot easier and simpler at the base of the mast (but it does make lowering and raising the mast a little more time consuming). The control lines idea are not going to work as proposed, they will be unecessary: the wind force is to great, and the mast will turn with the sail. (if the mast needs help turning it is obviously a not very good system). A self standing rotanting mast, as suggested, is a lot more complicated and expensive, the collar system in the drawing will scratch the mast and cause too much friction. It would require a good bearings system. Also the wing mast format (oval) would be more indicated. I belive a rotating mast with a regular tube shape wont make great difference in performance (considering the complications involved).