Can you use any mast from another yacht?

[captlloyd]

Lots of used mast on e-bay. Also ''Craigslist'' in Miami.

[UNCIVILIZED]

There are plenty of options for finding pre-loved spars. Many already mentioned, & even ebay.

As to figuring out if a perspective spar will work for your boat, if it's not obvious that it's strong enough. Then this book help you with 90% of the math which you need in order to figure it out Brion Toss Yacht Riggers, Sailboat Rigging::Search Results
And, FYI, a new edition of the book is coming out soon, as per a posting on Amazon.

But the math isn't very complicated. If you made it through Junior High, you can follow the calculations as ladi out in said reference, just fine.
Plus, it's got a Lot of other useful rigging info. Much of it which will save you $ in the long run, & some of it's just plain fun.

[Kiwi.]

Originally Posted by ausnp84

Yep - very doable.... we just did it in fact. Had a schooner with 2 x 12m masts, now have a ketch with a 16m foremast.

n

Hi Nathan, very good advice. My first three yachts had second-hand masts, no money for new stuff then.
Off subject a bit, but why did you choose not to have a triatic stay between the masts?

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Kiwi.

Hi Nathan, very good advice. My first three yachts had second-hand masts, no money for new stuff then.
Off subject a bit, but why did you choose not to have a triatic stay between the masts?

Agreed! No point buying brand new unless you really, really need to.

We do have a triatic and split backstay for the new foremast - that photo had been taken *just* after we've refitted the mizzen and I'd not had a chance to scramble up and connect it yet

n

[ausnp84]

Originally Posted by Steady Hand

How many square feet of sail area did you gain?

For the Mainsail?
For the Genoa?

Hey Steady, I'd need to get the sail dimensions but we added 30sqm in total. It took us from a pretty pathetic 80sqm (15t boat) to 110sqm.

The ballast could definitely take it and as for balance, we'll tweak the rake this week to dial it all in before thinking about heading south.

n

[HappyMdRSailor]

fstrocka...

Can be done as the general consensus says here....

BUT...

You can't just pick a stick by length, slap it up and call it good... The book the uncivilized mentioned by Brion Toss is mandatory in my opinion...

Your major factors you should be concerned with are the two bending moments Ixx and Iyy... And most importantly... weight/ft... If you're way off on these, you'll be creating a very serious accident in the making...