Sunday 5 July 2009

Mast kits

This mast section is taken from one of Dudley Dix's mast drawings,he supplies the design work for many parts of the rig,in full detail,we can supply the parts as a kit.


This drawing is copyright to Dix Design and may not be copied or used without prior permision.

We have won boat kit orders over in the past by supplying mast kits in wood as against alloy,I wont even mention carbon,the cost is just outrageous!Its worth mentioning that before alloy we only ever had wood spars,many are still standing of course,trees manage in strong winds without the assistance of steel wire supports,so when we use wood and add the stainless wires,we are well up strength wise.

The worlds economy is pushing up the cost of many raw materials,plastics and metal are prime targets,this sees alloy becoming an expensive option,witnessed by the very high cost to masts made from the stuff.

Re enter wooden masts? So why not and what if we pulled a few tricks and used the wood as an element but then add some fancy componants,like 316 stainless steel and carbon fibre,plus Harken or Antal mast tracks complete with batten cars,when the mast is painted,fitted out and raised,you wont even know it has a timber core but you will have a lot of cash left to buy your North Sails!

We are working together with the yacht designer Dudley Dix on this,he has done a lot of fine work on masts to suit his designs,one drawing we have shows the fractional rig for his Didi 38 range using a sectional box shape for the mast tube,CNC cut stainless steel for tangs and spreader ends,carbon fibre to the two sets of spreaders,an external mast track for the mainsail.

The mast can be shipped as a kit easily of course as no part will exceed 5.5 meters in length,we will supply all materials and batt car track and cars to a manufactuer of your choice.

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