Ways to Add 6ft to the BOTTOM of a mast?

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Lionshooter

I've done it.
In 1980, a Catalina 27 got hit by another boat and the mast broke a foot above the spreaders. I had a rigging business so it fell on me. I had never done this before, but hey, show me the $$. There was no Google or Cruisers Forum back then. I had to get creative and invent something. So...
1. Went to Alvin's boatyard, which is a 5-acre retirement community for abandoned boats, and found an identical mast extrusion.
2. Removed the spreaders and brackets
3. Cut 3' out of the original mast to get past any deformities from the collision.
3. Cut a 3' splice to replace what I had removed.
4. Cut a 6' piece to slide inside, but had to remove the sail track in order to compress it enough to fit.
5. Replaced the spreaders.
6. A boatload of rivets later, the boat was sailing again.
It wasn't real pretty but if you were sailing past at 5 knots, you wouldn't have noticed.
It wasn't difficult, just time-consuming. Took up the whole day.

Thank you.

And it only took a day!

That’s great!

For aesthetic reasons, I think doing an internal sleeve like some members have posted in this thread would be the right way to go.

Looking at the youtubes of how it’s done and how every new Selden mast is spliced, it seems this is the way to go.

I just have to identify my (European) spar’s cross section and find a fit. It’s a very simple oval shape. Yet completely unmarked.

I’ll put the splice at the base since it makes everything else easy:

*boom and gooseneck will line up correctly with deckhouse
*won’t need to add more unknown battten car track at the top and pray it lines up well enough to work
*have to get new standing rigging anyway to do a thorough job, so the extra length on the shrouds and forestay is no big deal (no backstay)
*will need a bit more foil length on the furler, but more sail area forward will be available
*will build the chain plates (angles) to this extended height

[Franziska]

Chotu,

out of curiosity, why is it difficult to move the gooseneck on your mast?
Ours is just riveted on and has actually been moved.

I am sure it's complicated in your case otherwise you would do it, but, I'm curious.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by Franziska

Chotu,

out of curiosity, why is it difficult to move the gooseneck on your mast?
Ours is just riveted on and has actually been moved.

I am sure it's complicated in your case otherwise you would do it, but, I'm curious.

I think Chotu has answered this upthread: His gooseneck is welded. Moving it would change the geometry of the diamonds; the track would have to be altered; the halyard exits moved perhaps: there's a whole spiral of things small in themselves that add up to a huge nightmare. That mast was designed to have everything where it is in relation to everything else. To move only one thing would be like moving your car seat and not adjusting the mirrors.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Benz

I think Chotu has answered this upthread: His gooseneck is welded. Moving it would change the geometry of the diamonds; the track would have to be altered; the halyard exits moved perhaps: there's a whole spiral of things small in themselves that add up to a huge nightmare. That mast was designed to have everything where it is in relation to everything else. To move only one thing would be like moving your car seat and not adjusting the mirrors.

I couldn’t have said it better myself. Thank you. It’s welded.

Moving the gooseneck changes literally everything.

You could also add the need to move the tangs higher potentially so the mast is supported better at the top (big square top main puts plenty of pressure up there).

Adding 10% length at the bottom of the mast means I don’t need to change anything except the length of the standing rigging and the foil on my furler.

It leaves the entire mainsail system and components alone completely, but adds some area to the foresail.

It’s just way, WAY easier to deal with a bottom extension than a top accounting for everything.

And since we can see from this thread it’s done all the time, as well as how to do it, it’s the best path moving forward.

Finding the section will probably be the most difficult part.

[Franziska]

OK, got it thanks.

In our case ist was simple because we have neither spreaders nor diamonds, if the mast would fail somewhere in a remote location we could use any lamppost or telegraf (nice old word!) pole as a temporary fix.

But than again Lady Rover is not a performance boat at all. :-)

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Franziska

OK, got it thanks.

In our case ist was simple because we have neither spreaders nor diamonds, if the mast would fail somewhere in a remote location we could use any lamppost or telegraf (nice old word!) pole as a temporary fix.

But than again Lady Rover is not a performance boat at all. :-)

Don’t sell poor Lady Rover short!

I see she’s got almost no windage and a pretty light displacement. Depending on sail area, she should be making fine passages at reasonably good speeds. You’ll beat out plenty of production cats.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Franziska

OK, got it thanks.

In our case ist was simple because we have neither spreaders nor diamonds, if the mast would fail somewhere in a remote location we could use any lamppost or telegraf (nice old word!) pole as a temporary fix.

But than again Lady Rover is not a performance boat at all. :-)

I hope Richard Woods doesn’t read this!

[Franziska]

He would not mind. I know him personally :-)

She is one of his oldest designs (ex coach roof which was added by a previous owner).
His newer designs are generally round or multichine and as such offer better performance. Performance as in speed. He progressed a lot as we all do :-)

Lady Rover has hulls more like a Wharram.

Overall im very happy with her and already lived a couple of long summers on board.
When I bought her, I did add a bit more sail area though (Roach & Genoa) to get better light wind performance.
It works, but we need to reef a little earlier than others.
Still she is a pure cruising boat with a relatively small and simple rig.
I love the simplicity of the rig.

This summer we plan a big refit before heading south.

[Montanan]

Hi Chotu:

I just couldn't resist, what with the discussion of vertically moving your gooseneck.


https://media1.tenor.com/images/cdc5...temid=10344438

All the best.

Dan

[Cheechako]

Well, I think you have your answer, sleeve and attach the 6 ft.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

Well, I think you have your answer, sleeve and attach the 6 ft.

Definitely!

Thanks, everyone. Adding 6ft to the bottom with a sleeve after I try to locate a suitable section.

[SailingPNW]

My mast was extended about 4 feet at the bottom, the sleeve on the inside is probably at least 5 feet. With the two pieces welded together, then fasteners at each end. You can't even see the weld, and the mast looks like it is a single length of aluminum, and is bare aluminum.

[GRIT]

A good welder can do magic!

I've seen one like PNW describes. A bunch of holes drilled in the mast, then the sleeve is inserted, and welded through the holes. The seam was then welded, sanded and buffed, and was invisible to the naked eye.

If you can find the same section, this is certainly the way to go. For some reason, I didn't imagine you could find a similar section. I'm not sure why, but I had it in my head that you had a uniquely shaped section. My bad.

Cheers.
Paul.

[JBsurfin]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I haven’t got a rigger involved yet, but does anyone know or have experience adding 6ft to the bottom of a mast?

My used mast has a very low gooseneck and is 6ft short of the proper height for this boat.

Since the gooseneck is about 6ft too low and the mast needs another 6ft anyway, I want to add that 6ft at base.

What are some ways to do this? Is there a best way?

The naval architect talked about stepping it on a 2ft box. That’s not enough.

What about a sort of sleeve as strong as the mast itself? What about a splice? The naval architect mentioned the base is a tricky spot to do this stuff because it has a lot of force acting on it.

Anything I would do to my rigging such as you are looking for, I'm going right to an expert.. A Rigger or mast manufacture. Any DYI, in my mind, may result in a unexpected demasting..

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by JBsurfin

Anything I would do to my rigging such as you are looking for, I'm going right to an expert.. A Rigger or mast manufacture. Any DYI, in my mind, may result in a unexpected demasting..

Pretty sure that’s because, like many people here on this forum and in life in general, you’re living in constant fear and self doubt.

Guess what? The people putting in a sleeve are doing the same thing as show on the YouTube videos above. And you know what else? They’re only people like you or I as well. Hell, if you order a new mast these days it comes in sections you put together yourself just like in the videos.

Anyone can do anything at all, if they’re willing to learn.