Mast Raising

[Dennis]

Finally someone has mentioned aluminium .. so I

Did a load of maths to try and sort out the wall thickness - but finished with numbers that gave an overall weight slightly less than my wonderful hollow birdsmouth SA mast ..

Hello Nick

You have my interest.

What thickness of tube did you use?

I have done some research and have found that 16 swg (1.6 mm) and 10 swg (3.2 mm) are widely available, and the cost is very reasonable.

The load on the mast (hounds to tabernacle) is mainly axial compression. The maximum bending moment will be at the hounds due to the horizontal component of the forces from the genoa and peak halyards. Any potential mast failure would almost certainly arise from that bending moment.

I would probably opt for real wood veneer (I like varnishing ).

The potential weight saving over my 27 Kg HM mast is tantelising.

[Paul Turner]

Hello all.

I have just posted some pics in an album :"Mast Raising Mary Ann style".

The combination of pictures and captions should make it self explanatory.

Cheers

Dennis

CC19 #100 "Mary Ann"

Hi Dennis

Hope you're enjoying your second week in Falmouth.

Do you still have this sequence of pictures. They don't seem to be on the website anymore. I don't think I can raise the mast the way that Russell does. He's a lot younger than me. Paul Turner

[Dennis]

Hello Paul

Sorry about the long delay in replying to your post. I have only just stumbled upon it, probably because I was still at Mylor.

I removed the album about mast raising, because it referred to a method I no longer use. My current method (as described earlier in this thread) requires no additional hardware to be used.

Because my boat is on a mooring and the mast only ever is raised at the start of the season or if I take it elsewhere, I have had little opportunity to produce a video or sequence of photos, especially since I am invariably doing the job solo.

With regard to Russell's (ex) mast, remember his would be about 10kg lighter than your substantial HM fabrication.

I will almost certainly at some time in the future get a carbon fibre replacement, although Nick's aluminium alternative is a tempting low cost possibility.

[Paul Turner]

Hi Dennis

I managed to work out a system largely based on your method. I tend to raise it mainly by hand with the rope as back-up rather than vice versa.

I've also changed my plans for mooring and have now taken a berth in Weymouth Harbour for the rest of this year. It's working out very well.

Paul