Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Which is "the best quality (performance included) compared to price" when it
comes to attatching sailes to the mast?

a mast sleeve, like on the laser. mast turbulence is the worst performance
loss on sails (test by AJ Marchaj) as the leading edge is so important.
also cheap as it requires no hardware.


What makes the best home made mast... GRP or wood?

I've not seen a fibreglass mast. It would be very heavy. The usualy choice
is wood or aluminum.


What is the price for full performance Al alloy mast profile of standard
quality?

perfectly round aluminum tubing is fine on cruiders and is used on many
home built boats. I don't know how to determine required diameter
or wall thickness.


One more fence to overcome is to make the mast really unstayable. Support
needed for self tacking jib though....

I doubt it's possible. To get the straight jib luff you need a lot of
tension. You need the stright jib luff to point high. A bendy mast with
stays and spreaders is the usual way of doing it on dingy's. You're
getting into some spohisticated sail controls like outhauls, boom vangs,
cunninghams, mast rams, etc. that's a recing boat and why they are
expensive.

you don't need a jib for responsive sailing (quick tacks) or to point high.
TF Jones, the builder/writer I mentioned earlier, sails on a tidal river
and favours unstayed sprit sails on his small boats - no jib. any boat
with the front edge of the sail attached to the mast can point high and be
very responsive.

hope that helps.


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On 7 Oct 2004 22:01:55 GMT, William R. Watt wrote:

Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Which is "the best quality (performance included) compared to price" when it
comes to attatching sailes to the mast?

a mast sleeve, like on the laser. mast turbulence is the worst performance
loss on sails (test by AJ Marchaj) as the leading edge is so important.
also cheap as it requires no hardware.

Any links?


What makes the best home made mast... GRP or wood?

I've not seen a fibreglass mast. It would be very heavy. The usualy choice
is wood or aluminum.

GRP tube would be more flexible compared to Al, but not heavy... I think.
The radius have to obe a little larger for GRP to compensate.


What is the price for full performance Al alloy mast profile of standard
quality?

perfectly round aluminum tubing is fine on cruiders and is used on many
home built boats. I don't know how to determine required diameter
or wall thickness.

Can a sleeve be mounted on a standard Al tube?


One more fence to overcome is to make the mast really unstayable. Support
needed for self tacking jib though....

I doubt it's possible. To get the straight jib luff you need a lot of
tension. You need the stright jib luff to point high. A bendy mast with
stays and spreaders is the usual way of doing it on dingy's. You're
getting into some spohisticated sail controls like outhauls, boom vangs,
cunninghams, mast rams, etc. that's a recing boat and why they are
expensive.

you don't need a jib for responsive sailing (quick tacks) or to point high.

Fully aware of that, but I will most likely have to reduce sail area without
a jib.

So, it's about holding on to a low momentum CE.


Morgan

Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Any links?

try a search on "laser + sailing" or "mast sleve"?
Is there nothing on mast sleves in Bolger's book?

Can a sleeve be mounted on a standard Al tube?

the mast on the laser is aluminum tube. for convenience on shore it comes
apart in two pieces.

Fully aware of that, but I will most likely have to reduce sail area without
a jib.

yes, reefing in a dingy is never easy. racers don't usually bother
reefing. reefing is one of the weak points in the sprit sails I use but I
do what most dingy saiors do, let out the sail in a gust, and don't sail
in bad weather. races are usually postponed or cancelled in rough
conditions. I've been workign on sprit sails that rotate freely around the
mast to eleminate downwind rolling and broaching in strong winds, the
worst part of dingy sailing. Works great.

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On 7 Oct 2004 22:01:55 GMT, William R. Watt wrote:

Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Which is "the best quality (performance included) compared to price" when it
comes to attatching sailes to the mast?

a mast sleeve, like on the laser. mast turbulence is the worst performance
loss on sails (test by AJ Marchaj) as the leading edge is so important.
also cheap as it requires no hardware.

Sleeve? ...in the meaning of treading the sail over the mast?

How can I reef that?


Morgan

Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Sleeve? ...in the meaning of treading the sail over the mast?

How can I reef that?

on big boats the sail is rolled up around the mast - "roller reefing"
Look at the "Freedom" brand of cat ketches and similar boats on the Internet.
I've seen photos of it being done on a laser. No experience with it myself.
I run for shelter.

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William R Watt National Capital FreeNet Ottawa's free community network
homepage: www.ncf.ca/~ag384/top.htm
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On 8 Oct 2004 12:30:49 GMT, William R. Watt wrote:

Morgan Ohlson ) writes:

Sleeve? ...in the meaning of treading the sail over the mast?

How can I reef that?

on big boats the sail is rolled up around the mast - "roller reefing"
Look at the "Freedom" brand of cat ketches and similar boats on the Internet.
I've seen photos of it being done on a laser. No experience with it myself.
I run for shelter.

An unstayed stiff rig must be the easiest to adopt, wouldn't it.

It should be easiest to adopt a rigid rigg since it easily can be given the
same stiff mast etc. Whith almost no bending the bening could be more easliy
aproximated and less fault, even if homebuilt mast etc.


Morgan O.

Morgan O.