Freestanding

Well, I'm glad you got it worked out. Masts of every conceivable arrangement have been built from wood and plenty of other materials too. There's no best or good about any of the choices, just goals that must be achieved when making the decisions about materials and technique applications. The same is true about the sectional shapes of the mast. Some are better in some ways, while being disadvantaged in others, so the square/round debate can rage on.

Now nurse yourself though the posting pictures stuff and lets see this puppy . . .

 

I made a few sails from white polytarp material, adjusting the shape. The original sailplan was 114 sq ft. My sailplan is 120sq ft. I think a freestanding rig will want to carry a little more sail area than a stayed rig on the same boat.

 

The boat has a bow-sprit which extends about 5'. Tip to toe the 14-1/2' hull is just under 20' long. Internal halyards, no topping lift. The foresail exit block is about 4/5's up the mast.
The boat is a trailer sailer so I wanted the setup to be fast. My best time for complete launch was 12 minutes! Usually takes me 15-20 minutes. The sail is fully battened and stays on the boom. When I launch, the sail is ready to hoist with the pull of a string. (Difficult to do with carbon fiber) I do not have any deck blocks.
The boom has internal outhaul, 6 to 1. I have a flying outhaul which I love. Basically, just pull the inside string (to the right of the companionway)
3- lines on the right are mainsail, three lines on the left are foresail.

 

I had built 2 of these same style masts, over 30 years ago. For a sharpie. Those masts were taller, 27'+ and heavier (made with Doug fir) I tapered the staves in profile but not in thickness so the tops were heavier.
Those masts worked really great. (No picture)
When I tried to research anew for this mast....I struggled to find information. Mast weights were very difficult to come by. Commonly I would read estimates that were insane weights and the numbers were all over the place.
And I hope I don't offend people on this site...... but I wonder how many experts there are regarding freestanding masts?
I only say that because I tried to research. So I guess I'm posting minutia not to be a jerk...but to get some information on record.

 

You do not offend anyone, on the contrary, it is a pleasure to read your comments that exude satisfaction for the work done.
That said, what do you want to know about freestanding mast ?. It is very possible that in this forum there is someone who can answer you.

 

This video has a look up at the mast while underway. I believe that is the 2nd homemade sail so don't look closely.

 

Here's the old thread: Freestanding

There's a lot of info regarding this subject by forum member Eric Sponberg.

On - Eric's website - see - Free-Standing Mast Designs - and on - Articles - in the section: - Mast Design and Engineering

 

Looking forward to images.

 

Maybe I didn't research enough but i couldn't find much, if any information about making unstayed spars.
The sharpie masts (27', doug, fir,) I'm guessing weighed 40 lbs. They were a two-man lift.
I read... "over 30 lbs. and you might want some help raising a mast" and I think that is a number we can work with. (even if not balanced)
I can find no mention of balance with making spars. It seems very important. I think you can "sense" it in the mast raising video i posted earlier, the balance point is about 1/3 up the mast, and then you subtract the "bury" from that. I forgot what they call it but the mast momentum.....the center of effort......is much lower than you designer types will credit a guy.
(The video cuts off the top of the mast, it would be more impressive if you hold it)

 

And perhaps it is widely done around the world......or 50 years ago!....but I can't find any hollow masts that have the staves themselves tapered. (Please don't laugh at me if I'm wrong)
The very thing (weight aloft) that makes people reject wood without consideration.
People are attracted to fancy woodwork. A birds-mouth mast looks like a cool idea but it is heavy and labor intensive. Can't be tapered, and doesn't flex right or any other damn thing you need it to do.
(Maybe I'm wrong, do people taper staves in 2 dimensions on birds mouth or other hollow wood spars?)

 

I don't know when and where you did your research but hollow birdsmouth tapered masts, freestanding or stayed are common. Freestanding probably even more than stayed this days, since most are made for small boats. And yes the staves themselves can be tapered in two dimensions, it's just more complicated to do than constant wall thickness tapering. Here is an article explaining everything, including calculators. Bird's Mouth Spars revisited http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/04/s/articles/birdsmouth/

 

Don't know how you can transition from solid base to hollow with birdsmouth spar.
Windsurf rigs are unstayed (but in effect it is stayed 1/3 up where you are holding the rig) much of the strength comes from "bowing the mast tube" under great pressure.
I wonder if a laser rig works similarly, at least for the upper part of the mast?
But we don't want that. We want a sail that can be raised and lowered. This is one of the problems with carbon fiber. I don't know how you do a cf mast with a track that let's you hoist and drop the sail.
I had bolt rope grooves on my homemade sharpie masts, they were a pain to pull the sail on when alone underway.....I want this sail to drop on the boom and go up like a big boat.

A much lighter cf mast can be made....I think the first problem is a suitable tapered mandrel. Second problem is I think you will have to make it yourself. And anybody who says they do the engineering on a cf layup.....? Cmon...I know engineering is real but by the time you get your numbers....you are still going to add a bunch "just in case" and cross your fingers.
Anyway, I'm not saying carbon is bad. I tried to make a carbon bow-sprit.....it looked really cool like a sports car part.
Carbon may be good, but I am not good at carbon.