Cooper 416 Mast Manufacturer? (Spreaders need replacement)

[dsteinfeld]

I know this is pretty obscure, and I'll probably wind up at a custom shop, but does anyone know the vendor(s) of the spars used on early '80's Coopers (in my case the 416)? I had the mast pulled when we hauled out for the winter, and after taking off the lower spreader "boots" (ok, a rubber sheet wrapped around the end tang (?) with self-amalgamating rubber holding it on) I found severe corrosion of the last couple of inches of spreader. Clearly this was a bad idea for chafe protection as it allowed crud and water to be held against an aluminum/stainless joint.

I'd intended on replacing the standing rigging as it's 30 years old (although for the last 25 years it's been a New England coastal boat, so a fairly limited sailing season), however after seeing the spreaders that turns out to be a much more urgent problem.

For those interested these are tubular spreaders with stainless socket-type bases, through-bolted with a compression post. Rigging is discontinuous (hence the tang on the end) with a cap shroud. Opinions on repair/replace appreciated!

[neilpride]

Best bet for you could be fabricate duplicate in a metal workshop, could be a kenyon spar, not sure..

Check here.http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...77880786,d.eXY

[dsteinfeld]

Thanks for the pointer to Kenyon. I'd looked at RigRite but not at the Kenyon specific page. The size of the tube is odd, possibly metric, at 60mm OD, 4.1mm wall thickness. Much larger than the Kenyon spreader sections, and an intermediate size (plus about 2x the wall thickness) if you look at the Kenyon round aluminum tube. Of course what I have could be massive overkill...