Designing the mast

The mast specified for the boat we have is 28'10" long and 7" in diameter at the deck. The original design calls  for the mast to be stepped into the forefoot knee. The disadvantage with this is the difficulty to lower the mast for transport on the trailer or if we decide to go under fairly low bridges. A solid 28'10" long mast with a diameter of 7" would weigh approximately 220 lbs. If we were to make it a hollow mast we could probably reduce the weight by about 130lbs. This added with some rigging, mast hoops etc...well would still make the mast lowering and raising rather difficult.

A 6" Sitka Spruce hollow mast could withstand stresses from a 70 knot (130 km/h) wind with a good degree of confidence. If we're sailing in these conditions, we probably have more serious problems to worry about than masts breaking and will have lowered the sails completely.

A 6" Sitka Spruce hollow mast has a weight of approximately 90 lbs. Add to this the rigging, mast hoops, etc... and we're still looking at a pretty heavy and awkward mast to raise and lower.

For this boat, we're going to setup some sort of hoist and pivoting system to make the mast setup more palatable. A combination between a mast tabernacle and a traditional means of stepping the mast. We really like this tabernacle setup, designed by Michael Storer, so will probably try to somewhat replicate it for our boat. We'll need to devise some sort of portable hoisting system to life the mast out of the boat so that it can then be pivoted about the tabernacle. That will come some time in the future. Probably something built with some 2x6's, a winch, some aircraft wire or something similar.

For now, we're building a prototype tabernacle for practice, for helping in setting up the running rigging and just as a means to brew some ideas around in the head. Using simple 2x4's we're putting together what will a mockup of what the tabernacle will look like. Total cost was about $50. We did this one in the basement taking over the kids playroom temporarily. Easier to glue and work in a permanently heated workshop. Also easier to keep an eye on Isabelle and Lucille.