replacing a broken mast

[newbe]

I need to replace the mast of my wauquiez pretorien (a 35'' sloop) that was broken in the last hurricane(s) that hit Florida. The splicing and sleeve option does not seem viable as it would be the second such splice on the mast. The rig is a large-foretriangle masthead rig with a double speader, the boat design is rather stiff.
My budget is quite limited so I can''t afford a new mast. What options do I have in term of used mast -what brands?-and how hard would it be to locate one?
Thanks for your answers!

[Jeff_H]

Probably, your best low cost bet is to buy a new mast extrusion and put the mast together yourself using your old parts. That said I would think that your insurance should pick up the price of a new mast less the your deductible. A new untapered mast with welded masthead and gooseneck attachments is not all that expensive. Rigging and spreaders add a lot to the cost of a rig so you might even have a new mast built without anything else and then make up your own spreaders and standing rigging.

I would try running an ad in local sailing mags and contacting major boat insurance companies on the off chance that there was a Pretorian that was destroyed leaving its mast intact.

Otherwise I have no good suggestions since the likelihood of finding an intact used mast that is suitable for a Pretorian is extremely unlikely. (Not that many were made, and there were a number of rig variations over the production run.)

Jeff

[starcresttoo]

my mast was bent about 30 degrees 3 feet from the base.I am going to remove the hardware in the affected area and make an external rectangular sleeve for it.did you ever see how they fix wooden telephone poles that have been hit by cars?thats the same idea.sort of like having one of the twin towers resurrected on my boat

[tumbleweed35]

Shop around, I replaced my mast 2yrs ago and got prices from 3k-10k for 40ft deck stepped mast on a 35ft boat. I had it built at the spar shop at sailnet to my specs and was very pleased with the mast and the service.(I''m not sure if they still have the spar shop). A mast is a pretty critical part of a sailboat, the last thing you want to worry about when it is blowing 40knots with 12ft seas is whether that used mast that that you got cheap is going to come tumbling down. Just a little food for thought.

[Denr]

www.RigRite.com

[Billpjr]

If you''re in Florida try the boatyards in Ft.Pierce for a used mast. I was there a few days after the last hurricane and masts for were available. Many boats were blown over and hulls damaged beyond repair.

Another method is to contact spar shops that provide OEM masts to production boat mfgs. I did this with a 34'' Islander and bought a leftover extrusion from a production run of 300 boats. They took the Islander''s plans and built the rig up from there. The mast, boom, winch pads, masthead, aluminum spreaders and all attachments, etc completed and ready to mount for approx 25% of retail. I had to do the wire, terminals, turnbuckles, etc.

As a topic of interest on bent masts...one of the locals here sailed his Rawson 30 ketch to Austrailia from Florida. During the passage an upper shroud let go and the aluminum main mast bent above the spreaders but didn''t break. He jury rigged it to Austrailia and bent the mast back...then sailed back to Florida.

[dirtchickn]

Being an insurance adjsuter, most times one boat is damaged in an area, there are many. Right now for instance, there are about a dozen hurricane damaged boats for sale on Ebay. Maybe one of these has the mast size you need or something close enough to cut down. And at the prices, you might even get other gear for free. Of course, that leaves you with the hull, but maybe another ebay auction starting at $1 will move it. Also, insurance companies love to recoup money on non-salvageble items. Look at other boats that have not settled with the insurance company and make offers on the rigging. Most times they''ll take as little as .15 on the dollar. Then they can sell the rest of the baot to a salvage company. You should been in the best place geographically to find used boat parts. Good Luck.