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I recently broke my mast on my Cal 20 and have been searching everywhere for a replacement. I just cant afford to order a new one and i havent been able to find a cheap Cal 20.
I have been doing a lot of reading about the crab claw rig, I am now wondering if it could work on my Cal 20? I know it wont offer anywhere near the performance of my old rig but would it be serviceable? I am assuming I could build this fairly cheaply.
Crab-claw sails are generally used on catamarans or proas that don't have heavy keels. Getting a crab claw sail (or more likely several of them) big enough to make a Cal 20 move won't be free. You'll still need a way to hold it (them) up, too, and figuring out the balance and making it work will be a major hassle. Are you planning to throw out your old sails? Finding a used mast or a simple extrusion that you can cut down shouldn't be difficult or expensive. Check Craigslist and the web. You should be able to find something reasonably close to what you need and just re-use your standing rigging.
Ive been looking everywhere for a spare mast. Closest ive found was to long on the profile to fit my mast step. I spoke with a rigger about making something fit, he said the spreader bar compression fitting would be to difficult/expensive to get set up. Also mention that cutting the mast flush would be very difficult without proper tools (rotary chop saw).
It seems like it would be cheaper to just buy a new Cal 20 and scrap the old one. Pretty choked about it, i've put a ton of time and money into my boat. Guess thats just the way it goes with boats...
Buy a scrap-yard ready Cal 20 and move the good mast into the good boat and scrap the rest of the bad Cal 20?
I'm not sure why you wouldn't just replace the mast step with the mast? If you can find something really common like a used Catalina 22 mast then you can buy one of their mast steps too.
I am in Victoria, BC. I have been looking everywhere for something that will fit. Everything has either been to expensive or to short. The problem is I'm moving in a month and a half and if I can't fix the mast in the next couple weeks I will have to sell the boat. The plan was to sail the boat up to my new home with my girlfriend during April.
Buying a trailer and driving the boat up isn't really an option, expensive and then I will be stuck with a mastless boat in a remote location. So that's my predicament...
There is a sailboat wrecking yard in Bellingham that often posts on Craigslist and which has tons of masts. Here is their website: Home Page
A San Juan 21 mast (it looks like they have a SJ21 parting out) is only 6" taller than the Cal 20 mast and will likely fit. Just get the mast step as well (and the boom too). The boom is a little too long, but that is easy to fix with a hacksaw.
Getting the boat operational in the next couple of weeks while you move seems complicated.
Thanks for the information, I wish that place was closer to me. After emailing every marina and boatyard in town I have found a rotting Aquarius 23 that still has its rig. It should fit, the sail sizes are nearly identical, just a hair bigger on the Aquarius rig. Though it looks like the boom will be sitting about a foot lower than it used to...going to have to get low on the tacks!
One problem, the Aquarius was designed without spreaders. Should I just use the rig as is or add my old spreaders onto this mast? The jumpers up top as well? I don't have much in the way of tools or space so I might ask a professional to take care of that.
Thanks for all the help!
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