It looks as though you have done a really nice job of making the mast.

Its interesting, I used exactly the same stainless steel saddles on my masthead, to carry the halyard, lifts etc. (But I was impatient and did not glue wooden packing in the inside to strengthen the fastening - that detail shows you are skilled, patient and experienced I think.) What is interesting though, is I am finding the saddles do not work very well for me. The halyard binds and develops more friction than it should, and in my case I am thinking it is partly because those saddles encourage the blocks to lie hard against the mast and not swing out a little as they should. I think I am going to have to replace my saddles with fittings that act more like a crane and hold the blocks out just a little. My halyard is a 4-part tackle, starting at the yard, going to the mast, back to the yard, back to the mast and then down to the turning block - yet I still struggle to raise the bundle. I guess my sail is heavier than yours and needs a better halyard arrangement (and a better actual halyard, as I am still using the original trial halyard made of rubbish rope.)

When you get a photo or two of the interior, will we be able to see a magazine article which describes how you chose, built and sailed your little boat?

Happy sailing

What a charming little boat, and your big smile says it all.

Supporting the mast in this way is the usual method for trailer boats in my country. Some can even swing the rudder blade vertical and mount a little support fitting on it for the mast, but usually it is just some kind of strut which replaces the rudder and attaches to the rudder fittings. Your mast looks so slender and light, I am envious.

I am really looking forward to some photos of her sailing in a good wind, some details of how you have set up halyard, lifts etc - and maybe an article in the magazine?

Will she be used for overnight camping?

Is Wilde Qualle  flat bottom or V bottom?

Happy cruising to you and your family.

Hi,

Today after 2 sleepless nights because of thoughts about glueing my carbon mast pieces I did it at last and it took very little time. I think building my boat has taught me preparation for any task is the key to easy execution.
I first stuck on the 2 inserts lots of plastic tape around it like on the first picture in the attachment until it was the same diameter as the long pipes to make sure that it is completely straight lying on the table after gluing and then I mixed 25 grams of epoxy with 14 grams of hardener 3 teaspoons of silica and one spoon of wood flour and brushed first the insides of the long pipes and then the inserts themselves and slid them together wiping any excess epoxy away finished in 10 minutes. The second picture shows both pieces glued into the long pipes. 24 Hours of curing and I know if I did a decent job.

Greetings from Karl

Hi Karl it seems that wind surfer masts are usually made from carbon fibre, small diameter tubes with an internal sleeve join. This one is 4.5 metres when assembled.

Mind you, I think they are supposed to be quite bendy, you won't be wanting that much bend. The point is, the join detail does not seem to be a problem.

I presume this (below) is your outer tube?

0372CTW550510-2Carbon tube 55x51x2000mm Outerdiameter: 55 mm-Innerdiameter:51 mmLength: 2 meters- Weight: 533 g / meter.Construction:pultrusion, inner fabric 80 ° + single direction + outer fabric 37 °, epoxy resin.

Since you have already bought the tubes, why not just give it a go?  If it breaks at the join (or at the partner) you can fix it, and make it stronger.

I think the amount of overlap (bury) is 30cm and therefore within the approximate 10% which is regarded as a minimum for tabernacles, so in theory the join itself should be as strong as the rest of the mast, in bending. However there is still the problem that the halyard and yard will put a rotational force on the top of the mast. It would be interesting if the top section of the mast was able to rotate. I  have never heard of that being done, (though I have seen on other more simple rigs, rotating masts where the entire mast is allowed to rotate in the partner.) I suspect that with all the running rigging which is usually carried on a junk mast that rotation of the top part would be unacceptable, but I don't know from experience. Maybe the top part, if not glued, would need to be secured in some way so as to prevent rotation, but I am not sure the best way for a carbon fibre tube. Hopefully someone else who knows more than me will chime in here. 

I had a sailing dinghy a few years ago, in which the mast came apart simply, in two parts. It was no problem, quite convenient in fact, but it was a very simple sail.

My own thought would be to glue the mast fully and just accept that when trailing the boat, the mast will need to be carried over the top of the cabin and will protrude forwards and aft, a little, which is the usual way for a trailer sailer.  However there is room for some other ideas here. Your little boat is very interesting and when you get her sailing, some more photographs and a description would be very good.