Catalina with unknown mast

[TylerDevden]

Hello, everyone; this is my first post. I have a Catalina 27; the boatyard lost my mast spreaders. So, after some research to find new spreaders, I now know I have a weird mast. I have no clue what make or model my mast is or what spreaders to get. It is a Catalina 27 1985 tall rigg and the mast length is 35 feet and one inch. The length of a tall rigg catalina mast is 36 feet. Any info would be great. Thanks

[OldManMirage]

I would call Catalina. My understanding is that they are pretty knowledgeable about their own boats. They may have records of your particular hull number.

Worth a try.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by OldManMirage

I would call Catalina...

Indeed.


I expect that the spreader attachment brackets are still affixed to the mast, and that you only need to replace the actual spreaders, themselves.

There may be a part number, on the spreader attachment fitting [or, perhaps, on the mast itself?], which should identify the matching spreader.

Otherwise, Rig-Rite’s identification guide might help:
Spreaders ➥ https://www.rigrite.com/Spars/SparParts/Spreaders.php

[Shrew]

Originally Posted by TylerDevden

the boatyard lost my mast spreaders.

This sounds like a Boatyard problem to me. They lost them, why do you feel compelled to chase down the solution?

[psk125]

Originally Posted by Shrew

This sounds like a Boatyard problem to me. They lost them, why do you feel compelled to chase down the solution?

If the yard lost the original spreaders, is a new pair they pull from their "extra spreaders" pile going to be reassuring?

[TrentePieds]

Tyler:

Welcome to our forum :-)

Boats are NOT like cars! You do NOT need "Original Equipment" parts to make your boat good again. All you need is some pretty standard stuff you can find almost anywhere, and a basic understanding of what stuff like spreaders is there to do.

A Catalina27 is a very simple boat and easy to maintain. Half a century ago I taught sailing on Cat27s, so I knew them well. They are, within their obvious limitations, very, very excellent "beginner's boats".

Rather than move heaven and earth to find ready-made spreaders for a Catalina27, I'd go to a firm that sells aluminum tube for irrigation purposes and buy a ten-foot length of 1 1/4" tube of the heaviest wall thickness they have. That will be the raw material from which you can fabricate your new DIY spreaders.

Your last photo seems to show the attachment point for the spreaders, the photo having been taken from the top end of the mast towards the "heel" of it where it steps on deck.

Give us a photo taken from the deck end, pointing upwards without the measuring take getting in the way, and I'll tell you how to make your homemade spreaders attach to that fitting. The length of the fitting is pretty immaterial. All that's required is that it's "long enuff", and it appears to be that.

Remember that in boats like the Cat27 you are never really concerned with "perfection". What really matters is ADEQUACY. And remember that in most of life's affairs, 20% of the effort and expense required to achieve perfection will get you 80% of the way there.

In my book that constitutes adequacy :-)

All the best

TrentePieds

[David Sandowich]

C 27 not perfect but a great boat. Sailed an ’85 for 13 seasons. Catalina Direct has the answers to al your questions .
https://www.catalinadirect.com

[Cheechako]

I wouldn't worry about the 35 vs 36 ft. Who knows what they originally were really. Many boats are called 40 feet when they are just above 39 feet etc. It doesn't appear that mast was cut down as the exit sheaves are still there and look original.
You ought to clean that up and at least touch up the bad paint areas. Also make sure the sheaves all turn readily.
Yeah, I'd contact Catalina and see if they know a spreader source. It would be nice to have some nices ones , but as mentioned, thick wall tubing would work, but you need a decent end fitting for the wire placement.

[Nekton73]

That looks very much like the mast from a Laser 28 I used to sail on. Perhaps you could research that and see if it leads you somewhere useful.

[BenBowSirocco]

The Yacht Rigger company in St. Petersburg FL makes custom spreaders more often then a man might suspect. If you give them some basic information, I know they would be happy to have a pair made up for you. They keep all sorts of spreader extrusions on hand even, so they may have the extrusion to fit your mast sockets.



One of the owners, a man named Brian is perhaps the most adept and talented marine fabricator I have met and I have worked in the industry 15+ years.


He used to manage the old JSI mast shop. Before that he worked some years as a decorative blacksmith. I once watched him taper out a high end racing spar for a local boat and I gotta say, the result was impressive- but perhaps what stuck with me most was how quickly the project happened.

There is real value in a man who KNOWS how to work metal like he does because it happens so fast that its affordable.