Alan Jones wrote:
Any help and consideration is greatly appreciated.
Best Regards,
Alan
Alan,
First, I like what you're doing with the hull. Very suitable for the Fraser River and the Strait of Georgia (on its better days!).
But, looking back through your blog, I see you made a model of a junk rig with two equal sails, and this is the way that I'd go. Smaller sails on smaller diameter masts, in tabernacles at a slight angle so that the masts can fall in towards each other...
However, if you stick with the one big mainsail, I think you need a taller mast. Bear in mind that you need to lift from the middle of the yard, and the angle between halyard and mast shouldn't exceed 30˚. Even so, there will need to be more balance area at the throat.
You found the Ewing tapered poles, which would be my favourite, and the 7in diameter x 3/16in wall model would be perfect for a smaller sail. Otherwise, it's difficult to find 7in tubes. I think I would want 8in x 3/16in to carry a 506 sq ft sail.
You've realised that you need a slow-tapered conical section between tubes of different diameters to get the sail to drop, and I would find this a difficult and skilled metal-working operation. But if you want to go this way, then, for example, a 6in tube will fit within a 6in pipe very nicely, as the nominal diameter is outside on the former and inside on the latter. 6in pipe has a .280in wall and 6.625in outside diameter (you'll probably be buying from somewhere like Alaskan Copper, I would guess). This would tend to indicate two equal sails of up to 300 sq ft.
I hope that helps.