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Alum highway pole for mast

4K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  RonRelyea 
#1 ·
Mast is 12" tapering to 8 and is 5/16" thick. Is this a good idea for a mast. Boat is 50' and steel so I don't know if its too heavy for the boat. Do they generally use good alloys in these poles? Just curious no plans to use. Couldn't find anything on search but I can't string words together properly I guess.
 
#7 ·
I don't know much about how masts are constructed, and even less about highway poles. But I would suspect that there's a reason why masts are generally more rectangular in cross section, as opposed to round like a highway pole. Would the round pole be more susceptible to bending or breaking when the forestay or backstay tension is adjusted?
 
#8 ·
PLENTY OF CATBOATS have freestanding aluminum masts that are in fact just fancy light poles

You would just need to see how close it to one of the catboats in current USE

Its really no different that screwing on a sail track on any other mast
 
#9 ·
A local boatbuilder, with much the same type of philosophy as our own Brent Swain, used to write a column on economy boatbuilding in Pacific Yachting back in the heyday of home building. He advocated this very thing - the light poles were MUCH cheaper than mast extrusions since they were produced in such huge volumes.

He simply screwed or riveted an external track on them and used sail slugs.

Personally I'd go for a round one, not one of the faceted ones. :D
 
#16 ·
It's not hard to find a mast being sold for scrap value if you look around, especially with the number of damaged boats and parts filtering onto the market now. Given a choice between buying a mast at scrap value or a lamppost at scrap value, i'll take the mast- all the hard work has been done, all the shroud and stay tangs are there, no sail track installation needed, etc.
 
#17 ·
I just read it and wondered. I don't know about wooden masts so I can't answer the question about flexibility. Apparently some people are buying new light poles which are cheaper due the the very high volume of production than masts. I haven't looked into it but the idea of buying a scrap mast that has good life left in it seems a good one.
 
#21 ·
Several years ago one of the Sailing Magazines, perhaps Cruising World, serially chronicled the completion of a bare hull--I believe a Cape George--by a young couple. They fitted the boat with a Gaff rig using an aluminum light pole as a mast that proved very satisfactory. Once completed they took off with their two small children on voyage of adventure/discovery. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of the yacht but I suspect one could come up with the article and their blog if one were determined enough with Google or one of the other search tools.

FWIW...
 
#22 ·
Wow since we are talking THEORY only here... I think you should forgo the rigging, mast, and just take the chute approach... Way cheaper to implement, slightly limited on direction of sail (just a bit). I just think it's funny that they show this, like it's some kind of amazing invention.

 
#23 ·
I think kite surfing a 40' around the world (or even around the bay) would get a tad tiring. :D
 
#24 ·
I am thinking using a lightpole as a mast might be tiring to configure, but hey, you waste your time in the shop, or on the water... whichever works.

Used mast is probably the cheapest/quickest way to go and still get decent sailing.
 
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