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Mast Tubes


DaveOnCudjoe

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I've ordered sails and bought track for the new rig on my Sea Pearl. I'm planning on carbon fiber tubes from Forte for the masts. Does anyone have experience with Forte or have another source for CF masts? Dave

I got quotes (maybe 6 yrs ago) for a rotating wingmast section and the numbers from Forte were substantially less by 30+% than the others - project id not go forward so cannot comment on the build quality.

There's another highly regarded c/f builder in this area, Composite Engineering in Concord Massachusetts, that might be worth using as alternate source and a price check.

Are you going for round tube or some aero shape?

If the mast will be able to rotate the you just "have to" go for the airfoil/wing mast shape - you'll get a net +30% more in horsepower from the same sail area.

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Roy,

Track will be 5/8 Schaefer

Tom,

Thanks for the lead on Composite Eng. Rig is much like the Core Sound rigs in that the masts are free to rotate in their sockets. Masts will likely be round tubes as it is free standing and I want it to be beefy enough to pull the boat over onto it's side. I've yet to determine how the round mast will orient itself underway. This boat is used almost exclusively for the Everglades Challenge and the rest of the time I sail a differant boat which is where the bulk of my boating funds land. Dave

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We (Hall Spars) do the masts for the Presto 30 which is a freestanding round tube with wishbone booms. They are made on a 4" mandrel and are about 30' long. We have a 2" mandrel that tapers down to 1". Our tubes are stronger and lighter than Forte but more expensive. We are going to do a set of Core Sound 17 spars fairly soon. The tracks can be drilled and tapped into the carbon with backing plates at the head and tack. What are the tube lengths for the Sea Pearl masts?

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Philip,

Standard Sea Pearl masts are 20ft but my rig is set up for 18.5ft with a crane on top to carry a block for the halyard. I had planned on 2.5 in OD tubes with 1/8 wall. This is a stock item at Forte. Drop me an e-mail if Hall can provide similar tubes. Main will be about 75 sq ft and about 55 on the mizzen. Socket through the deck is 3in. daveoncudjoe@gmail.com

Roy,

Should I be concerned about the track and mast touching?

Dave

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Galvanic corrosion?... someone told me once that CF and some metals shouldn't come in contact with each other particularly in a marine environment. the mast coming into contact with the steel track should be okay, as the resin acts as a barrier. but if you tap metal screws into that cf mast, that might be a different story. just saying you might want to look into it... it could be nothing.
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I would have to check who our current supplier is, but for most applications a dome head rivet works best. Best corrosion resistance would be 18-8 or 316 although 304 is probably slightly stronger. We use Tef-Gel or Duralac (Zinc Chromate paste) to isolate the fasteners. For the larger size SS rivets we use an air gun but there are some hand rivet tools like the Big Daddy tool that work fine for 3/16" rivets which is a good general purpose size

I keep hearing about these paste's, never tried them myself. On boat we are installing canvas, etc on we use plastic washers that you can order from most marine fabric, accessories companies to go under things like snaps. On aluminum frame hatch covers this is kind of important when installing fabric covers and snaps. Usually the simplest method is to have some throw away metal screws that match threads on hardware being installed. They usually only last for a couple of holes for tapping but its fast with a drill, and the permanent material is installed with 3M 4200 type stuff usually and plastic washers. In a pinch I've used milk bottles and cut/drilled off pieces to do same thing, also worked on the Hobie Cat as sacrificial material for mast base.

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