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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