How Do You Buy a Used Mast?

[MicHughV]

if the cat is in Florida, south Florida I presume, then Sailorman, Ft. L. is your answer.
it's been a while since I stopped in there, but I seem to recall they had masts stacked like cordwood there...take your required mast dimension and root around there, odds are that you will find what you are looking for.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

if the cat is in Florida, south Florida I presume, then Sailorman, Ft. L. is your answer.
it's been a while since I stopped in there, but I seem to recall they had masts stacked like cordwood there...take your required mast dimension and root around there, odds are that you will find what you are looking for.

I’ll give them a shot!

I’ve tended to stay away from these places because every time I go they have ancient junk at very close to new prices. Hopefully they aren’t overcharging for old masts and booms too.

[toolbar]

Hi Chotu,

you need to talk to someone with good contacts in the multihull world.

There are some nice guys out there. Someone like Nils Erickson can probably help you track down a good used performance-multihull rigg. Contact him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nils.erickson or sailing-anarchy.com (soma).

Paul

[MicHughV]

Well, when I built my boat, I hooked up with some guy in the New England area, that was in the business of supplying masts to customers. New one's. I don't remember his name, unfortunately. He was not with any boat manufacturer. He supplied me with both a new main and mizzen mast, booms...plus all the bits and pieces...spreaders, the various attachments, goosenecks, masthead, etc....it was all shipped to me at a very good price. I had to drill all the holes and pretty much assemble everything myself, as the masts arrived in spotless never used condition.

My main mast was only 40' of the deck, and deck stepped, so it was transported by truck. I'm not sure how a 60' or taller mast would be transported, but I'm sure it is done all the time.

At the time, I had also contacted several mast manufacturers, but their prices were thru' the roof....I even contemplated building a wood mast...

I'm not sure where this guy sourced his mast materials, as he was not a manufacturer of any kind. The masts he had were in "like new" condition, but clearly not new.

I mention this as a possible source. It may require some internet and google searches.
He was from the New England area, Massachusetts, I seem to recall.

[chris95040]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

this may not help you, but back in the day, there was a book called " Skene's elements of Yacht design". In the book is a section on how to figure out your mast section. The book is geared for mono's, but may be applicable to cats. It's been around for years.
it's been a while since I've thumbed thru' this book, but back in the day, when I was building my boat, it was a boatbuilder's bible of sorts.
The section on masts can give you a good idea of how to go about selecting a mast.

The OP is not designing a mast, so they won’t need Skenes. They just need to locate a mast that is roughly the same dimensions as the one in their plans. You would refer to Skenes if you were trying to identify how stiff of a mast (Ixx, Iyy, the stiffness laterally and longitudinally) the boat needs, but the OP already knows this.

It is that cross sectional shape alone from which one computes the stiffness (Ixx, Iyy) of a given mast extrusion. You could call Selden to get them directly, or a rigger could compute it from the cross section geometry. Locate a mast that looks similar in cross section and have a rigger gut check that the used mast’s cross section results in similar Ixx Iyy as the Selden one.

OP, you will need to locate your spreaders and shroud tangs where ever your plans call for them (roughly) and cap any serious holes left from removing hardware from the masts previous life. Folks here will know good ways to accomplish that.

And it won’t matter if the used mast came from a cat or a mono or a flagpole at a seafood restaurant as long as it’s the same wall thickness and cross sectional shape (roughly) as the one in the plans.

[Fore and Aft]

Chotu curiosity killed the cat so I did a quick internet search and straight away I found a used mast from a Leopard 38 with furler for $4500. I would be seriously dedicating a day on the phone and internet looking for a rig? Could you motor your cat to the location of the rig? If so maybe there is a rig in the Bahamas? You just need a bit of lateral thinking and luck. I am only thinking this way because it would be easier if the rig came from a similar size cat rather than modifying a mast.
Cheers

[sanibel sailor]

To help answer the original question-
Use RigRite's website. I have found their customer service people to be pretty unhelpful but their website is great despite lack of pricing info.
If the seller knows what boat the mast came out of, and/or the spar brand, their website has lots of info on sections, sizes, usage by different boatbuilders and moments of inertia. May take some tinkering and reverse lookup type work, but it is a goldmine of info. Shey do not cover all manufacturers however. Selden for instance, I don't see listed.
I don't think much of Sailorman, mostly powerboat stuff and few bargains, but it has been several years since I was there. Sailor's Exchange in St Augustine is more to my taste, but I do not recall seeing big masts when I was there 18 months ago. No firsthand knowledge, but I would guess the Bahamas rigs got trashed when the boats did. Seems unlikely the boat would get totaled and the rig be unscathed, but maybe. Its been a good while since the hurricane however. I bet the good stuff has all been dispersed by now.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Chotu curiosity killed the cat so I did a quick internet search and straight away I found a used mast from a Leopard 38 with furler for $4500. I would be seriously dedicating a day on the phone and internet looking for a rig? Could you motor your cat to the location of the rig? If so maybe there is a rig in the Bahamas? You just need a bit of lateral thinking and luck. I am only thinking this way because it would be easier if the rig came from a similar size cat rather than modifying a mast.
Cheers

Yes, I can motor to the rig. Not internationally though. Just USA east coast.

Need a rig from a 50’ cat though and a tall rig at that. The boat was built for light air. 60-63’ is the length of aluminum extrusion needed.

[toolbar]

Talk to Nils - an old carbon ex-gunboat rig would fit your boat perfectly. :-)

Paul

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by toolbar

Talk to Nils - an old carbon ex-gunboat rig would fit your boat perfectly. :-)

Paul

Ok, if there is any hope of finding one of these, I’m taking Nils out to dinner!! Lol

I just reached out to him.

[Bill O]

Went through the process of looking for used masts for a mono and unless you get it from the exact type boat, the hardware, winch and spreader placement may be different. This will make more work to fill all the old unused holes (swiss cheese), probably repaint the mast, etc. etc. It a compromise at best.
I agree in one of your earlier posts to just purchase the 60’ Selden 304 blank spar and build it the way you want. This way you will have what you want and will save a lot of time effort trying to find something that will possibly work. You will be much happier in the long run and you may find it works out cheaper to buy new, especially if you are doing the hardware fitting.

[betwys1]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I know the length, the diameters and wall thickness needed.

Then what?

I was told those other values are crucial.

Then what? Here's what!
Is the condition right?
Is the price right?
Good. That's it.

Way WAY to much hand-wringing going on here.
It's as though people do not realize that section profile, length and material completely determine all properties.

But then, when my kids bought me a 22ft South Coast trailerable, less mast for a day-boat we found a Hobbie Cat with a mast slightly longer which suited the need at the price I wanted to pay.
And lived happily ever after. (But mast furniture is important)

[GRIT]

This is a 50 foot catamaran. Section, material, shroud placement, number and angle of spreaders, will all affect whether or not a mast will work on this boat.

The spreaders, and shrouds are of crucial importance in a mast, especially one as loaded as that on a 50 foot cat. If they did not matter, I'd have gladly gotten the bare pole and just put cap shrouds on it, and call it a day. But our mast supports are quite a bit more complicated than that.

I'm afraid your 22 footer isn't a good example of how any old mast will do the trick. Though, indeed, on a 22 footer pretty much any mast will do.

Cheers, and happy sailing.

Paul.

[MicHughV]

mast thickness and profile mean little without knowing how it will be supported.
Mast buckling, compression and tension in the walls, etc, the number of holes , etc, are all very dependent on how much free standing mast there is between spreaders, etc...
The compression loads on a mast are enormous, and can be many 1,000's of pounds.

[StoneCrab]

Too, too much hand wringing ..I agree
//Quote
Originally Posted by Chotu View Post
I know the length, the diameters and wall thickness needed//end quote

After length, diameter and wall thickness, everything else is just bits and pieces added to the stick. Size doesn't matter, it is the same process, no matter the size or style of boat. The mast holds up the sails for propulsion. Some are even made of wood!

If you want a bendy mast, the one of the parameters will be different. Stiff mast...well then thicker or bigger diameter. Simple stuff.

If the length, diameter and thickness match, they match. Buy it and make any necessary adjustments.

The beauty of metal is that it can be cut and welded. A mast isn't born, it is built up out of pieces of metal welded together.

Have a beer in a blue collar bar by the nuclear power plant. Chat up the boys until you meet a welder and be generous with beer money and respect. These guys can make anything beautifully. Gain a friend, build up your mast and go sailing. Take your new friend along.....

If the mast is not close to the boat, put it in a truck. If you aren't in a hurry, find a broker who will add it to a deadhead for very little money.