Strange skeleton frame mast

[2020]

Hi all, I have seen a version of this mast on a ketch in Pittwater sydney australia. The photos attached are of two other boats (home built).
Does anyone have knowledge of this type of mast construction?
Does it whistle like a banshee?
what are the pro's & con's?
It seems possibly elegant, sturdy & cost efficient but could also be a home made catastrophe
any knowledge is always appreciated.
cheers / 2020

[Sandero]

it's a truss.. and pretty clever... less windage.. easy to climb... not it won't whistle.

[IslandHopper]

Popular with the homebuilt ferro crowd back in the day. Was one in a marina where I stayed a few years ago, didn't whistle but had a bit of a hum to it, not to loud though.

I did envy the way the owner could nip up and down his masts though, even with a bit wind blowing, up he'd go and just clip on anywhere, had a basic harness with 2 adjustable lanyards so was always connected up or down.....

....he was up and down having done what he need to do while I would be still sorting out my harness/boson's chair to ascend my step-less mast, bastard!

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Sandero

it's a truss.. and pretty clever... less windage.. easy to climb... not it won't whistle.

I think it may actually be more windage.... a truck driver told me years ago that the worst thing to drive re fuel consumption, windage etc was an empty cattle truck.

[Stumble]

They are called lattice masts, but I don't know of any data that compares them to a typical aluminium extrusion. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the primary advantage is they are cheap to build if you do the labor for free. I would also guess that there is a massive drag penalty compared to a teardrop or even circular mast.

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I think it may actually be more windage.... a truck driver told me years ago that the worst thing to drive re fuel consumption, windage etc was an empty cattle truck.

I would agree, although In my case (quite a few years ago) it was carting sheep in road trains. Empty it was a mission to keep them in a straight line, too much wind blowing around in an empty space, looking in the wing mirror at the rear trailer would nearly give you heart failure at times.... full....

[Suijin]

While your mast may not be a foil in and of itself, it's the leading edge of a foil. I can't imagine anything worse to create disturbed and chaotic airflow across your main than something like that.

If it made any sense at all, outside of cost, you'd see a lot more of them.

[Don C L]

Yeah, not a good leading edge for a wing. But if you are always going downwind it's fine!

[IslandHopper]

Originally Posted by Stumble

They are called lattice masts, but I don't know of any data that compares them to a typical aluminium extrusion. My guess, and it's only a guess, is that the primary advantage is they are cheap to build if you do the labor for free. I would also guess that there is a massive drag penalty compared to a teardrop or even circular mast.

You didn't have to build them, just modify them to suit a boat. Most spent their early days as antenna mounts and bought second hand (cheaply of course) by the home builder...I even recall reading the build plans for a ferro recommending these as a cheap alternative to a traditional mast AND giving tips on where to look for them....

I used to have a vision of a bunch of hippies walking down a country road at night with one their shoulders, and some poor farmer trying to figure out why he can't tune into the ABC anymore......

[2020]

a Lattice mast. Thank you. It seems there's quit a bit of info online but so far very little actual user knowledge.
btw: still chuckling at the poor farmer not getting the ABC.
thanks all and cheers again

[tuffr2]

When done with the boat you can sell the mast to any cell phone company. It looks very much like a smaller cell phone tower to me.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, 2020.

[valhalla360]

A lot of the cruising gear and design is driven by the racing market (sometimes 20-40yrs on). Some of it is great (two speed self tailing winches) some of it not so great (massive fore and aft overhangs to game the WLL).


If your goal is racing, it's horrible because racing is all about going upwind (the boat that can win the upwind leg, usually wins the race). For downwind or reaching, it should be fine and most cruisers avoid going upwind. Go down to the ICW or other popular cruising destination and watch how many cruising boats tack upwind. When it comes time to go upwind, they either don't or they motor.


There's the old joke that cruising is boat repair in exotic places. Sure would be nice to simply climb the mast like a ladder if you need to replace the anchor light or replace a broken halyard.


Only major downside I see is resale value as it's an oddball design.

[mkriley]

That lattice mast is just as strong as it's worst weld.
How many welds do you think are in the mast in the picture?
mk

[YachtBroker]

My mom still has one next to her 1950s house. It's called a TV antenna and I can't believe it would have enough lateral strength to hold up, not to mention how badly it's gonna rust and as mentioned previously a ton of welds.

Still you gotta like these guys that build all this stuff themselves.