Rael wrote:
Hi all
I'm building a new 25 foot cruising Proa.
It will have a stayed mast, like I've been using for a few years now....
So, the question is if I have 22 square meters of sail on a 7.5 meter alu mast, is a 75x2 mm pipe enough?
I'm worried about mast bend between mast srep and mast head.
I am also worried about weight....
Your opinions will be great, Thanks
Rael
On my 6 meter cruising catamaran I have a 6.7 meter mast with 20 square meters of sail. The mast is stayed from the top because it is a gaff rig. I have used 100 mm x 3 mm aluminum tube T5. I know I should have used T6 tube, but I could only find T5 tube locally. But even with T6 tube I think the best I could do would be to go down to 90 mm diameter, and by preference I would stay with the 100 x 3 mm tube size for mast rigidity. My mast seems Ok, but I would say that the size of tube I have used is the minimum which could be used. The mast does have quite a lot of wobble in it if I push against it, but when sailing the mast seems to stay very rigid. My all up rig weight for mast, gaff, boom, sails and fittings is just under 30 kg. I have used Dyneema standing rigging to save some weight, and which I am very happy with.