A sailboat project....thoughts?

[MikeR]

JRN- Interesting idea, never thought about the zinc thing. Yes there is the beginning of scalloping along the bottom of the spar.

Everything else being equal, I'd like to get the mast butt out of the bilgewater, having second thoughts about the oak and have contacted the Gougeons of West System about building a riser out of EGlass reinforced epoxy.

Will keep you guys posted.

What kind of boat do you race?

Cheers,

MikeR

[jackellis]

I had the same thought as JRN. You might be better off with cathodic protection of some kind to deal with the dissimilar metal corrosion problem. Also, you don't say what the diameter of the mast is and whether it's solid or hollow.

[MikeR]

More info

OK-

Mast is a hollow aluminium extrusion 5" wide by 9" front to back. It sits inside the oval parts on the photo attached.

My original plan was to use end grain white oak pieces glued together and sealed with epoxy and glass. End grain because its very strong in compression.

The photo shows a mockup. The plate is held down with 4 -1/2" bolts which are also keel bolts. Plan was to drill four holes through the end grain oak, then bolt the entire thing together.

Cheers,

MikeR

[jrnewhall]

MikeR,

The last few years I have been crewing on a C&C35. I have been crew on all sorts of boats, C&C 39, Pearson Flyer, Tartan 30's, J36, and every June I do an overnight race on a J42.

Have you thought about a hard synthetic block of some sort? The repeating immersion and drying is a very hard environment on any wood. I would still be worried about the leverage on the bolts though. By the way, have you thought about what this added 1" will do to the rigging? Will your headstay even allow for the adjustment without raking the mast way forward? I'm not sure the 35 footer I sail on would have enough slack in the shrouds for an added inch of mast height. If it were me, I think I would stick to trying to fix this with a zinc and keeping the bilge as dry as possible.

~JRN

[MikeR]

MikeR,

The last few years I have been crewing on a C&C35. I have been crew on all sorts of boats, C&C 39, Pearson Flyer, Tartan 30's, J36, and every June I do an overnight race on a J42.

Have you thought about a hard synthetic block of some sort? The repeating immersion and drying is a very hard environment on any wood. I would still be worried about the leverage on the bolts though. By the way, have you thought about what this added 1" will do to the rigging? Will your headstay even allow for the adjustment without raking the mast way forward? I'm not sure the 35 footer I sail on would have enough slack in the shrouds for an added inch of mast height. If it were me, I think I would stick to trying to fix this with a zinc and keeping the bilge as dry as possible.

~JRN

Yep, looking at a piece of epoxy laminate, waiting for the folks at West System to chime in. Planning on cutting the mast butt by the same amount as the riser. Relative position of stays, shrouds will remain constant.

The C&C 35 is a sweet boat. I sailed for years (did over a dozen Around Long Island Races on it) on a C&C34, my son has a j80 that I sail on when I get down to Annapolis.

Still thinking about the zinc thing. Thanks,

Cheers,

MikeR

[paulstenlund]

lcm - Landing Craft Medium?????? I have a Catalina 27 as well. We live on Puget Island in the Columbia River - walk across the back yard to the boat

Paul

[kwgeorge]

If you use wood check out Lignum Vitae as a choice.

Ken