El Toro Mast

[trenthightower@]

I'm looking to buy an El Toro to use as a dinghy for my Yankee 30 and need some info about the mast. Hopefully there are some Sailing dinghy enthusiasts out there that might know: Is it possible to convert a standard El Toro wooden mast into a two piece unit? I love those little boats but can't really fit a 14foot mast inside my Yankee. Don't really want to be carrying it around on deck either. Anyone seen a two piece retrofit that works?

Thanks

Trent

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Trent,
I don't have an El Toro but have sailed them and Sabots quite a bit. The difference in mainsails and masts between the two is that the Sabot has a sail with a sleeve and you just pull the sleeve over the mast and there you have it. The El Toro has a main that is threaded into a slot or groove in the mast if I remember correctly. The trouble with converting is that both have a pretty long mast that is unstayed. The coupling you use would have to be pretty long and how would you get that groove or slot in the mast to line up?
If it were me I'd convert to the Sabot style sail and then you would not have to worry about a slot. Just have a sleeve sewn into the luff of the El Toro sail and make a coupling out of aluminum tube that you could fit the two halfs of the mast into. 18" or two feet ought to do for the tube length.
Just one suggestion.
Kind regards,
JohnL

[Amgine]

I loved my el toro to death. broke a mast, tore the deck off a couple times... Marvelous boat. Rows like a beach ball though.

The laser 4.7m rig is a two-piece mast of about the same sail area as the el toro. A regular laser mast with the 4.7 sail might have the gooseneck at approximately the right height if the el toro were modified to house the circular mast.