Refit to unstayed mast? (Baba 30)

[Ivory]

Anyone have thoughts on refitting a baba 30 to an unstayed mast?

From what I have read, it seems like doing this to a boat designed for a stayed mast is quite the expense.... but the information I found was fairly dated (so prices of a carbon fiber mast have likely come down).

But it sounds like it would still need a reinforcing of the cabin top (at least)?

[tkeithlu]

This could involve quite a structural rebuild, beyond what I would think wise, better to go buy a boat with an unsupported mast if that's what you want.

Shrouds distribute the forces on the mast to the four corners of the boat, to the point that the lateral load at the base of the mast is minimal - it's largely compression. An unsupported mast reverses that, with the lateral load completely transferred to the boat where the mast goes through the deck at at the mast step. It's all in one place, and a place that normally would have little if any stress. You've got to redesign the boat to make that switch.

[TiPegleg]

A huge undertaking. A 26 year old me fantasized about doing this with a boat I was rebuilding at the time. I was reading Colvin’s books and kind of in love with the Hill’s Badger, and had junks on the brain. Started falling hard for freedoms and realized those boats had absolutely nothing in common with mine other than we both floated. Structurally speaking, mast placement, and beam - totally different. Unless you have a really good grasp of the physics involved and are more, much more, than a little handy - don’t even give it a second thought, just say no.