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Submitted
on June 9, 2005 by Jan Brandsen
Question: Hello,
I plan to use the mizzen mast of a ketch racer as main mast
for a 55-foot cat. The mast has an external track, 1 inch wide.
Length is about 80 feet.
Do slides for such a system still exist?
Is a change to a fully battened mainsail with new track and slides (needed,
I understand) prohibitively expensive?
The cat will only have this one mast. This mast never had a forestay,
but it did have a backstay and two crosstrees with the stays coming with
that. Do I need any backstays if I only make a fitting for a forestay
from the top? The oval of the mast is 6.5 x 12.5 inches.
I also bought booms, spi. Booms and mainmast (probably all made by PALMER JOHNSON), but this mast is a bit too big for the cat.
I hope somebody overthere can answer these questions.
Jan Brandsen
Holland
Answer: Hi Jan, there are a couple of different types of 1" external tracks. However, even though we don't know exactly what shape track you have, it is safe to say that there are slides available that will fit. That is the good news.
The somewhat more expensive news is that most external type of tracks are not very good with the compression from full length battens on a sail with roach, like you see on most catamarans. If you invest in a new mainsail, you should also consider a good track and car system from Harken, Antal, Frederickson or other comparable brands.
You will definitely need some aft stays to keep the rig from falling over the bow! The spreaders that came with your mast may not be of much use because they probably direct the side stays to a location on the ketch where there was a very strong chainplate, but on your catamaran you have a bridge deck that can not hold the tension loads. You should have a rig engineer take a look at the boat and the spar. Catamarans have a nice wide base for the stays so the standing rigging loads are a lot lower than on a monohull, but the rigging lengths and configuration will be much different.
Regards,
Dan Neri
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