Graeme Kenyon wrote:

Arne, the problem I had with a mast in the middle of the V-berth was, I am a bit embarrassed to admit, I did a mock-up to begin with and found it near impossible to swing my old bones in and out of bed. The mast had to go further forward or further aft.

Graeme,
for some reason I have from early on developed the habit of sleeping head forward in my boats, probably because it is darker there (summer nights, even as far south as 59degrees N, are never really dark). With this practice the mast position in the V-berth is not that critical...

Arne

Hi David,

I got your email - and it probably make sense for us to chat on the forum so others can benefit and weigh in on the ideas.

If you truly don't want to have a mast through the vberth, and you're set on a single mast, you've committed to one constraint, making your choices less complicated.  Not the build, mind you, but the choices.  

So if you make that choice, the mast step must be aft of the vberth - which in most boats is half in the head, half in the passageway to the vberth, and right up against the bulkhead that separates the vberth from the head.  That's farther aft than traditional rigs want, which means that you will probably need a high aspect rig with significant balance forward of the mast, or a well raked mast.

My decision was the former - a split rig with ~33% balance.  I had already decided on the split rig, so all this worked out fine for me.

You could get away without tearing up the interior to the extent I did - I went to that route because I wanted to completely redo the boat.

The photo above shows my original desired location - right in the middle of the vberth.  But the final location is about 18 inches aft of that - in the curved section of the head blulkhead.

No matter what you do with a retrofit of a boat this size, you're going to end up cutting into a fair bit of the liner - the mast step requires a healthy connection to the hull. 

David,

From time to time the matter of mast through the V-berth pops up in one of these foras. Some regard this mast position to be totally unacceptable, and this opinion has almost become a dogma here.

Well, I don’t buy it.

First of all, if this was a big general problem, there would hardly have been any JR movement in the UK in the seventies and eighties, as many boats there are small sloops with a mast right through or between the V-berts.

Secondly, I am on the third boat now with the sloop JR mast running right through that berth, and I frankly don’t see the problem. The two first, Malena and Johanna, had thick wooden masts. The varnished spruce masts were nice to touch and I slept like a log, right next to them.

On my present boat, Ingeborg, the mast is only Ø150mm, but the aluminium is ice cold to touch and would easily attract condense. I have therefore wrapped it in bubble plastic and then stitched a layer of canvas over that. The result is a dry mast, not cold to the touch.

The most likely showstopper to me would be any leak at the partners, which soon would wet out the mattresses. Fortunately, after 28 years with a JR, I seem to have learnt how to make a watertight mast coat.

If you get a chance, I suggest you fit a mock-up mast in the V-berth and see how it works for you. That is what counts.

Arne

Last time I posted I was looking for advice on converting a smaller possibly trailerable boat converted to junk for New England adventurous cruising.  Summer is short and the fun stuff is north and cold.  I looked at several smaller boats including a Contessa 26 and a Pearson Triton 28.  The problem I found is that when you convert these typical V berth style boats you completely lose the V berth, unless the boat was made purpose built for this intrusion, for example like the North Atlantic Bounty 29, where the forepeaks is wash room and a pullout bunk serves as a double in the saloon.Watching Scott Dufour convert his Pearson 10M has inspired me to look at larger sizes.  BUT even he has had to completely demolish his interior and start again.

A single mast appeals for simplicity, handling and economy.  I don't want to lose the forward V berth to a rope locker, though I am happy to shift the fore hatch.

Is it practical to rake the mast forward (like Annie did in Fantail) so the foot is positioned at aft edge of bunk on something about 33 feet?

And would having some sail balance forward of the mast help with helm balance off the wind or do we then create problems with batten bend?

Finally I am also inspired by Annies "composite" mast construction of a wood top inserted into a non tapered (IE CHEAP!!!) aluminum tube.  Is that method suitable for the purpose above and would it need extra wall thickness at the deck partners?

To conclude, I am looking for feedback on the possibility of a composite single mast situate aft of the traditional V berth on the biggest 30+ footer that can handle one sail.

Hoping to hear from Scott Dufour so I can piggyback on his experience....there are a few of his Pearsons selling up here.  Thank you.