Unstayed Carbon Mast - Small Boat

I'm looking for my next project.
Current candidates:
Bufflehead sailing canoe
Melonseed.

I am looking for manufacturers of relatively short unstayed carbon masts. Probably 20' or less.

Anyone have a suggestion? Or two?

So far I don't want to build my own.

Thanks

 

Forte-and if you're nice they'll work with you to get the exact bend characteristics you want.

http://fortecarbon.com/

 

The Bufflehead sailing canoe offers some performance potential, though little storage capacity and the Mellonseed, displacement mode performance with considerably more storage. I recently built a Mellonseed, though don't see the need for a carbon mast, except for weight savings. The spars on the canoe are pretty small, why aren't you considering building your own? Even the relatively massive (comparatively) spars on the Mellonseed came out light in spruce on my build. The full up weight of the birdsmouth, freestanding Mellonseed rig was about 15 pounds (gaff, boom and mast).

 

PAR,

I'm just interested in what it takes to put carbon on a boat.
The Bufflehead is inherently limited due to minimal beam, the Mellonseed appears to be somewhat limited due to low freeboard.

I could easily build in birdsmouth and probably be happy with either boat.

I'm also thinking about a small tri (17') and have a Tornado rig I might use. The real negative for me is that the rigged aluminum mast weighs about 60# which was a load to throw up when I was 30.
In spite of working with composite on aircraft parts, I really don't have a feel for the cost and performance benefits on a boat. Better, but more expensive is about my limited understanding.

So I might do carbon on a small scale just to see what it is like. Unless the sticker shock is too bad.

Any comments on the Mellonseed build?
Any personal knowledge of vendors for the carbon mast?

 

For a mast roughly the same size as a Tornado rig, probably less than $1000 difference between a carbon and aluminium mast.

Fwiw a new A-Cat mast at 9m runs $3,000 for the stick.

 

Right now I'm just interested in the small unstayed mast category.

The Tornado mast was just an example of why I'm interested.

 

Could you adapt one of RS's rigs?

http://www.rssailing.com/uploads/fi...34/original/RS_Aero_data_sheet.pdf?1393581338

 

Possibly.
Somebody must make these.

 

I may be wrong,but I think RS makes its own masts.

 

Selfbuilding a carbon mast? http://uk-cherub.org/doku.php/tech/masts

 

You could cut down a used sailboard mast. Choose the end that has the flexibility characteristics you want.

 

I really was looking to buy something appropriate.

First post: "So far I don't want to build my own."

 

Find a cheap second hand hobie bravo or adventure island and you get a carbon mast with a sail that furls up around the mast and it's battened. Great for small boats as you can easily furl the sail at any time and run under a heavily reefed main in bigger winds. I would think less than 2k and that's mast, sail, rudder, running rigging etc. Can't beat that for value. The mast has a bearing that it rotates in, I think they are torlon balls in the bearing not sure. I have fitted a rig of a hobie bravo to another dinghy and it is fantastic.

 

The mast for my Core Sound 17 was 3 piece aluminum tubing, little over 20' and weighted about 13 lbs.I also just happen to have recently posted my Hobie Adventure Island on Craigslist, it comes with the carbon mast, sail plus a fun boat for $1,700.0

MM