"Best" spar manufacturer

[SausalitoDave]

I have a lazy jack system on my Hanse 50. Easy to dump; however, it is hard to get the sail flaked and very challenging to get the cover on. At 5' 9" I guess I am height challenged. In a larger boat I expect this to be even more of an issue. Otherwise, I would go with the same system. It certainly reduces weight aloft and is very reliable.

[Emerald Sea]

Dave. suggest to prepare a scope of work along with your boats specs, working environmental conditions, etc and shoot this off to the various spar manufacturers for technical quotes. This will offer you a good comparative basis and open up discussion with them until you find the outfit best suited for your needs. There are so many factors involved in designing a rig for a boat and yours is custom.


Steve
L450
SV Emerald Sea

[mariner36bob]

Check out Aaxon Composites "Dracula Spars"
Light and sexy carbon rigs.


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[rob denney]

Originally Posted by Don C L

Well, how about free standing masts with wish bones and lazy jacks? Just a thought. Full battened sails could be easier too... though they do have drawbacks too...

Free standing is by far the most reliable system. Drop it in and forget about it until it needs repainting.
It is also safest. Release the main sheet and the rig weathercocks and the boat stops, regardless of wind strength or direction.
And easiest. The main can be raised, lowered or reefed on any point of sail, with no shrouds to rub against. It will flex in a squall, effectively an automatic first reef. Gybes are low stress as there are no shrouds to hit. They are no stress if the sail is eased out over the front of the boat, then pulled in on the other side.
It also has a lower centre of gravity and less drag than a stayed rig.
Up front costs are very similar to a stayed aluminium rig. Long term it is cheaper.

On the down side, a single mainsail is harder to hoist as it is heavier. Electric winches or winch handles overcome this.
The mast is further forward in the boat (opens up the saloon, closes up the forepeak) and the long boom can be a problem running square in a boat which rolls. Schooner or ketch configuration resolves these. Wyliecat Performance Yachts: Wyliecat 66 and Farfarer - Nigel Irens Design

A wishbone boom is above head height in use, acts as a very effective vang and can be lowered to the deck by releasing one line. Tie some strings under it and it stows the sail without needing lazy jacks.

An alternative is a ballestron rig,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8chR6DAFjGA

which is also self vanging and resolves the long boom/big mainsail issues. It also significantly reduces the sheet loads, but has a little more maintenance (jib halyard, sheet and track).

Etamax (Etamax Engineering - Composite Materials Engineers) filament winds unstayed masts which is the lowest cost, most reliable method. They include tapered joins so the masts can be cheaply shipped in 2 pieces and glued together on site. The masts have a built in sail track which overcomes one of the usual weaknesses of a carbon mast. With the current strength of the US dollar vs the Aussie dollar, they are probably the best value for money in masts at present.

[Schooner Chandlery]

Originally Posted by SausalitoDave

I have a lazy jack system on my Hanse 50. Easy to dump; however, it is hard to get the sail flaked and very challenging to get the cover on. At 5' 9" I guess I am height challenged. In a larger boat I expect this to be even more of an issue. Otherwise, I would go with the same system. It certainly reduces weight aloft and is very reliable.

I'm with you there--I'm 5'8" and spend my time jumping up and down to get the sail flaked and the cover properly on--and ours is a split rig. I've gotten to the point that I'm just glad if the pile of sail looks like it will fit in the cover. LOL. We have a traditional wood boat and rig so in-boom furling doesn't work for us at all -- I longingly look at how easy some of the boats with in-boom furling seem to have it but know nothing of performance of any type of spar save wood (fir vs spruce... ) which is far from your needs.

[SausalitoDave]

To wrap up, I decided to go with Southern. They are building a full carbon rig with in-boom furling. I am also going with ECSix standing rigging, while a bit more expensive than ECThree, it appears to have a longer expected working life and makes my SSB installation easier.

Dave