David Dawes wrote:
Hi David, I am in Newport RI and considering a conversion of something in the 25-30 foot range so US sources of masts interest me. Please share your findings especially price with us!
Incidentally I contacted Dabbler Sails in the Chesapeake out of interest when I saw they made a cambered junk sail for a Compac 23..........price was US$3,560!!!!
They are not taking anymore orders.....regardless at that price I think it is a winter basement project at home!
Best of luck with your search!
Yes I contacted him a week or two ago too. A cambered sail would seem to be a complicated project so I wasn't surprised at the price. He also said that a 'standard' flat panel sail of that size would be 2/3 less IF you had detailed drawings for it but he was booked 6 mo in advance. As you might expect with a good loft. Then he suggested I could do it myself with a little practice on an old zigzag machine. Sewing is not a skill I currently have. Not sure if I want to spend the time to learn that one at this point.
As far as aluminum masts I just googled Flag poles and Light poles. One of these is on the east coast. I forget which one. My new best option (below) is in the general neighborhood - Wisconsin) Save some money if I can figure a way to pick it up myself.
https://www.libertyflagpoles.com/collections/external-halyard-commercial-flagpoles
http://www.americanflagpole.com/flagpoles/
https://www.colonialflag.com
https://www.lightmart.com/ These guys also make fiberglass poles and are the guys that ran when I mentioned using one as a mast
https://lightpolesplus.com !!! It pays to research !!! This is the one - Same spec as the one I mentioned below but 121 lbs as a Light pole, and these guys have an anodize option too! Turns out to be less expensive than the flagpole I was looking at. Arne's instincts are correct (again)
After my experience with Lightmart and the fiberglass pole, I think I'll have to be careful how I approach the next candidate. I wouldn't let them know what I'm doing until after I have the pole. Guessing they're afraid of getting sued.
on edit:
Forgot to mention - I contacted a carbon fiber mast manufacture several weeks ago and priced a carbon fiber mast with sail track (to use the original triangle on the CD25). He thought it was a great project! ...$20,000 for the complete mast, boom, spreaders.