Boat Builder looking for windsurfer mast supplier

Hi all,

I need to source some carbon masts for some boats we are building to a UK design.

The UK designer specifies the following from a UK company ( the natural 400 and 430) and I am trying to find similar products in OZ

http://www.zerogravitydistribution.co.uk/amex/mast_natural40.html

I would appreciate any info on local suppliers in Australia

TIA

AD

Looks like a pretty standard freeride mast you should be able to pick up at any sailboard store in aus, I doubt brand is of much relevance. At 40% carbon should be about $300. What partof the boat is it for Den.

one is for a small mizzen (free standing) and the other is partly for a gunter yard and partly for an assymetric bowsprit. Here's the boat here to give you an idea

http://www.swallowboats.co.uk/content/view/115/110/

BTW is "freeride" a brand?

AD

thanks for that

AD

having built and sailed a couple of wooden boats I would feel like I had let the boat down by having a carbon mast. that kind of materials for that little itty bitty mizzen is complete overkill, same for that little spinnaker. for sails that size i dont even bother laminating the spar. save your money on the carbon and spend it on nice sheet ropes and better pulleys and fittings

As soon as I started reading this thread I wondered to myself if this was for the Bayraiders. Really interested to see these being produced in Aust.

Has there been any progress on the bayraider 17?

Hi Den,
just found this thread. Good luck with the BayRaiders downunder.

I sail & race a BayRaider. Great boat.

However, for racing I have modified my own boat with stiffer carbon spars than standard because the original spars have a lot of flex if you sail the boat hard. It is not so much the carbon content that matters but the 'IMCS' which indicates the stiffness of the spar. The higher the IMCS the more rigid. I am typically using 70% carbon with above 30 IMCS. I buy them as long as possible and then shorten them to get optimum rigidity.

That above link to CST may be very valuable for you, because they also do bigger diameter carbon tubes suitable for main masts. Maybe you will have customers interested in beefing up their boats a bit. Then a carbon mainmast is your choice, even more so in connection with Dyneema shrouds.
I myself have a carbon mainmast of 80mm OD x 3mm wall thickness, rigid like a tree but childs play to step and unstep.

What I can also recommend is to use carbon windsurfer masts also for the jib clubboom and for the mainsail spritboom, lowest possible weight and extremely durable.
However, if you use carbon tubes, you should always paint them a light colour. If you leave them black they heat up too much.

Hope this helps.

T.