CS17 Masts

[ecgossett]

I'm putting the sails together and have a couple of questions.

On the main mast the drawing shows the three sections, the last one being 5'4". However above this there is another 1' of what I can't tell.. This is above the fiberglass tubing. I attached a photo to show.. Is the wood plug 1' long?

The questions is what is the 1 5/8" closet rod for?

V/R, Edward

http://coresound17.blogspot.com

[Peter HK]

Hi Edward

I'll give an answer based on an educated guess and your plan reproduction.

My plans from 2006 only suggested a wood or fibreglass topmast on a 2 part aluminium lower mast. I see that a 2 inch aluminium topmast is now an option. I see from your plans a wooden plug is fitted into the top end- presumably to make the mast semi watertight (which is good in a capsize as the buoyancy of the masts is important (though not enough). I suggest you just put in a good wooden plug, with enough bury, in the top end. I made my masts a bit longer (8-10 inches) as there were many comments that people wanted to raise the sails a bit higher on a calm day and needed room to fit halyards. In the end I could chop 6 inches off mine and it wouldn't hurt but they are doing no significant damage being a bit long- see photo but note the topmasts are wood painted to look like aluminium. I believe the closet rod comment was from the non track version of the masts (at least it was on mine) and wouldn't worry about that.

As long as the masts are long enough with a good wooden plug there should be no problems, without worrying about a few inches here or there.

Cheers

Peter HK

[cprinos]

On the main mast the drawing shows the three sections, the last one being 5'4". However above this there is another 1' of what I can't tell.. This is above the fiberglass tubing. I attached a photo to show.. Is the wood plug 1' long?

The questions is what is the 1 5/8" closet rod for?

To me it looks like the last part is the wood plug. On the main it looks to be 17" long, with 6" of that buried into the top aluminum section . On the mizzen it is 9 1/2" with 6" of that buried into the top section.

Where do you see the 1 5/8" closet rod? On my plans, I see that used for the top section of the three piece masts of the "MAST & SAIL PLAN for Sleeve Luff & Lace Sails" sheet--closet rod is shown for the upper wood section, and I think it only applies for these three part masts that can be disassembled. I don't see any mention of closet rod on the "SPAR PLAN FOR SAIL TRACK" sheet (the one your picture above is from). For the wood plugs on the sail track spars, it looks like the plugs need to have a diameter large enough for a snug fit into the upper 2" aluminum tube.

chris