Chris White at it Again

[cfarrar]

CW states that when feathered, the parasitic drag of this mast is significantly less than a traditional mast.

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by cfarrar

CW states that when feathered, the parasitic drag of this mast is significantly less than a traditional mast.

Yes, but Kettlewell and I were discussing whether in a big blow and a quick shift, if it would have time to spin before a damaging load built up on the mast under the old AOA.

[TeddyDiver]

Very high aspect ratio foils are very prone to flutter and that can destroy mast like that in seconds..

[SVNeko]

They fixed that for aluminum jet wings which hit the speed of sound. I imagine it could be easily designed around for carbon fiber wings which won't see more than 100mph.

[Andrew Troup]

Regarding possibility of problems at anchor:

A 50' expedition sailboat (single-masted monohull) I went aboard some years back, with Antarctic and subantarctic voyages to its record, has (most unusually) a non-freestanding wing mast (base shown below) which does not have the advanced servo-feathering control surfaces which the OP boat appears to, and would certainly not feather nearly as readily as a well-engineered full-rotation rig* with only masthead stays, even one lacking advanced feathering.

(I'm assuming that's the case with Chris White's masts?)

I quizzed the skipper (who often sailed short or single handed) and he said there had been no problems, anchored in very exposed and windy situations.

I think a schooner-rigged boat with such a clean rig lying to an anchor is already largely self-feathering, especially in comparison with a boat on land which cannot do this. If the masts can quickly feather to sudden gusts from abeam, so much the better.

I'm not minimising the importance of this issue: There may be a problem, but I can well believe there may not.

[SVNeko]

Yes, if that rig with all that mass can rotate sufficiently quickly to avoid a problem, then I would agree that CW's probably would too. On his rig, the mast doesn't even rotate, merely a foil-shaped carbon sleeve over the mast. I have to think this thing is quite light and with low-friction bearings would turn readily.

[DA Winston]

new design with mast foil...
MastFoil 41 Catamaran by Chris White Designs

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by DA Winston

new design with mast foil...
MastFoil 41 Catamaran by Chris White Designs

Interesting design. The difference between full and light load, 1,000 lbs seems pretty small for a cruising boat.

[belizesailor]

Coincidentally, I am currently in Bocas Marina (Bocas del Toro, Panama) and Chris' boat "Javelin", an Atlantic 55, is docked here...pretty damn impressive...even without a new fangled wing mast.

[Turnone]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Interesting design. The difference between full and light load, 1,000 lbs seems pretty small for a cruising boat.

I wondered the same thing. Maybe it's lightly loaded has a lot of equipment included?

How can we know for sure? Any progress on this build?

Chris
Future Cruiser
Flying Scot #5495

[mcarling]

Originally Posted by Turnone

Any progress on this build?

Build photos here:
MastFoil 41 - ChrisWhiteDesigns | SmugMug

[solarbri]

During last winters cruise down in Mexico, I saw two of the A47's. BEAUTIFUL boats! I took pics, but unfortunately, I didn't get on board any of them. Amazingly the white one "Escape" which was in La Paz has a home port of Jackson Hole, WY. This is where Cat2Fold's home port is also...
The yellow one, "Bareacuda X", I saw much further south in Barra de Navidad.
"Espiritu Santi", an A57, was moored a few slips away from "Escape"...
The boat porn that I get to see cruising Mexico can be quite the treat!!!
Enjoy...

[Redreuben]

There's a thread just started at Multihull Anarchy about an apparent mast failure, it's a bit muddled but thought it may interest you guys.

Atlantic Cat Mastfoil Loses Mast? - Multihull Anarchy - Sailing Anarchy Forums

[Blue Skye]

Any news on this?

[Blue Skye]

An update on S/V Escape's blog about losing one of the mastfoils, not much detail though

Escape Expeditions