Thanks Annie

I know you are busy with SibLim.

Some pictures or a diagram would be very useful but, no rush, whenever you have a minute?

I was reading Brazil & Beyond and realised how many miles Badger had done with your home made masts. Can you recall the strongest winds they had stood up to? 

Trev 

There is also the method of making the masts from tree trunks. If one has access to trees, and have enough space for storing and working on them, one gets away with much less carpentry skills and tooling. I also trust these masts more that those depending on lots of scarf glue-joints. This write-up suggests finishing with 2-pot clear polyurethane varnish. Today, after seeing how the coating of Malena's mast failed after 15-16 years, I rather recommend using white 2-pot paint. That write-up needs revising, to also include hybrid aluminium-wood construction.

Arne

I think that masts are well worth covering with glass and epoxy, if you anticipate doing a lot of mile,s and this isn't necessarily easy to do with a tree trunk.  However, if you are a couple of years from launching, then the wood will probably be sufficiently well-seasoned by the end of the build so that you can do the job then.  Alternatively, you could make the masts and sail for a couple of years or so until they have seasoned in situ, then take them out, scrape them down, fill any shakes and do the glass/epoxy treatment then.  Of course, by that time you might have decided they don't really need it.

Why would a solid, grown mast, shaped to suit, weigh more than a solid, laminated one?

Steel isn't that much lighter than wood: as your boat is about 28 tons, I don't think the weight of the spars is going to be that much of an issue, especially as with a three-masted junk rig, they won't be that long. 

Good points Annie!

I am fairly new to all this and while i have a broad knowledge of buying & selling boats and parts, I don’t know much about sailing and Junk rigs so hopefully People will understand if my questions sometimes seem a little odd :)

If I didn’t know about your masts then i would have never believed they would be strong enough or that they would have the longevity that yours have had but, the proof, is obviously in the pudding.

If i laminated my masts i (due to the diameter) was thinking of making them hollow with, a 4 to 6” wall thickness? If i used a Douglas Fir Log, i suppose i would keep it solid as I couldn’t imagine how on earth you would hollow out something so long (45ft+)?

Are there any Junks around that are a similar size to mine with 3 masts that i could compare with? Or maybe, converse with to get an idea of any pitfalls or indeed, any positives that i may come up against? Anyone?

Thanks Annie! I know you think small is beautiful and i do agree but, with the plans i have, small wasn’t an option. I have bought & sold a couple of 40 footers in the last year, one steel and one wood and considered it but, i love the bigger boat, even though they were almost ready to go and mine is at least a couple of years away.

Trev 

David Webb wrote:

Hi Trevor,

have you looked at Chinese made flag poles?

I did some research about a year ago and found prices for a bare pole to be very competitive (around $700 US for an 11.8 meter spar, 200mm at the base and tapered in the top 1/3 to 100mm at the top, 5mm wall thickness, all in one piece) The problem was delivery which more than doubled the cost. Since then I have found out that there are companies that specialize in getting things delivered from China and their costs are much less than those quoted by the flagpole  manufacturer.

They also produce stainless steel flagpoles, this could suit your boat and they make them up to about 30 meters long.

This could be worth some investigation, especially for the delivery.

Thank you

I looked into this last year and had some really good quotes but, if there is an error, you are stuck with it and from experience, you do have to be very careful to make sure they have every detail correct and that they are who they say they are as i have almost been scammed twice.

Trev