mast transport

39 views
Skip to first unread message

Erik Schmalz

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 10:20:23 AM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Last year I transported the mast on the roof rack of my wagon. It works well enough, but I’m thinking about putting it on the trailer if I have clearance.

Is there any problem with supporting it roughly 16ft apart? Before, I was worried about only supporting it in the middle, and that turned out not to be an issue at all. I just want make sure I’m not missing something before I bother building the mounts.

Philip, I hope you’re recovering well!

-erik



Erik Schmalz

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 10:20:23 AM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com

Philip Ryan

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 12:58:12 PM6/20/20
to swiftsolo
Yes,thanks. My recovery is like any rehab, quite a bit of time and work involved along with constant vigilance to not overuse the arm, but other than that it is much better than expected. The surgeon and the PT expect a 100% recovery. By NA's in Aug I should be able to sail, with about 50% of my normal strength in that arm. 

There is nothing to be concerned about regarding supporting the mast. It can tolerate almost anything. I travel with my mast on the trailer with the 16' separation you refer to and I also pre tension (bend) it down 3 to 6" to limit how much it bounces (this saves wear and tear on the fittings and lines where they touch anything). If you are ambitious, you can change the way the mast base is rigged and leave almost all the rigging connected (including the spinnaker), so that trailer sailing is very practical and easy. I have one setup that takes about 25min from driving to sailing and it could be improved to remove another 5 to 10 min of rigging time.

The one thing to  keep in mind with the black clear finished carbon masts is heat damage. Trailering across Utah and Nevada during a heat wave, my mast got damage on the surface. Mark's perfectly smooth epoxy finish and the perfectly round tube is neither of those things anymore. The round tube is slightly irregular, and the surface is a bit lumpy. It seems to be purely cosmetic damage, because I needed no adjustment to my tuning numbers, and the mast has been seriously abused while sailing since then, and there is no evidence of any structural issues. The temp in the shade during that drive was 122 F, and stayed that way for 7 + hrs so the black surface of the mast may have been near 200 F for a prolonged period of time. It is amazing that the mast seems to be completely normal aside from minor cosmetic issues. That is a testament to the toughness of the Forte product.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Swift Solo Discussions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to swiftsolo+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swiftsolo/74283B5A-A06C-4C7D-B23B-AB12026EAC3D%40comcast.net.

Erik Schmalz

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 3:15:53 PM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for the reply and glad to hear you’re doing ok!

I’ll see what I can do about getting the mast on the trailer then. I have lots of little considerations with my complicated setup, but at least I know that the mast won’t break in the middle when going down the road….

It’s interesting about the damage. My mast hasn’t been completely smooth since I owned it, and the boom is the same, so I figured that’s just the way it was. I know that Roy left it rigged all summer, so I guess it could be a similar situation despite being in New Hampshire. Knowing that I have to do the same, I’ve since put thin epoxy coats on both and covered the mast with a few coats of poly “varnish” with decent UV protection. I usually try to cover the boom and sprit with something when it’s sitting around. Good to hear that the structure still seems solid. I’d REALLY prefer not to have half the mast come down on my head. I have enough problems. :-)

-e





Erik Schmalz

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 3:15:58 PM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Thanks for the reply and glad to hear you’re doing ok!

I’ll see what I can do about getting the mast on the trailer then. I have lots of little considerations with my complicated setup, but at least I know that the mast won’t break in the middle when going down the road….

It’s interesting about the damage. My mast hasn’t been completely smooth since I owned it, and the boom is the same, so I figured that’s just the way it was. I know that Roy left it rigged all summer, so I guess it could be a similar situation despite being in New Hampshire. Knowing that I have to do the same, I’ve since put thin epoxy coats on both and covered the mast with a few coats of poly “varnish” with decent UV protection. I usually try to cover the boom and sprit with something when it’s sitting around. Good to hear that the structure still seems solid. I’d REALLY prefer not to have half the mast come down on my head. I have enough problems. :-)

-e



On Jun 20, 2020, at 12:57, Philip Ryan <phry...@gmail.com> wrote:

Will Deutsch

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 3:24:02 PM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Hi,

I setup a two point mast transport on my trailer.

I had about a 3rd of the mast over the back of the car at a height the cleared my tow vehicle a minivan.

Cheers,
Will

swiftsolo1

unread,
Jun 20, 2020, 5:33:42 PM6/20/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Eric no problem transporting the mast with just two supports .. I have traveled thousand on miles with the mast on my trailer support 16-17 apart .. it tends to wobble so I rope it doom in the middle. 

All the best Paul 

Paul Osullivan
CEO, AMP RE Consulting. 

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Swift Solo Discussions" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to swiftsolo+...@googlegroups.com.

Philip Ryan

unread,
Jun 21, 2020, 12:26:23 AM6/21/20
to swiftsolo
Don't worry about the mast until you ignore the tension on the uppers and or the periodic replacement of the other shrouds.
- run the uppers as tight as you can tolerate (It's tough for boat handling) until you are comforable enough to sail with the spinny and watch how the upper mast bends in a gust. It really should never invert. Some people say that you use the main sheet to keep the mast from breaking - but my pockets are not deep enough for that game!  So I make sure the uppers will hold the mast vertical with no mainsheet tension.
- The spectra/dyneema degrades in the sun so keeping an eye on how much it is degrading is important. I'm probably too liberal in keeping my lines on the boat for extra seasons, but the other loaded lines often tell me what to look for in the shrouds. The spinnaker halyard will fray and eventually break where it goes through the masthead block and spends its whole life exposed to the sun. Likewise, or even more so, the tackline takes a lot of wear in the spinny up position (there is no swivel block there). So when one of those breaks or looks really scary, I fix it (yea - I'm cheap) and put shroud replacement on my off season to do list (so not totally cheap!). I also stagger the replacement of the uppers and lowers to spread cost out over time. For forestay and lowers, I just use material that is so beefy that it will last longer than either the boat or I will. Literally. 30 yrs from now my forestay and lowers will have 5x the working load they will need and the boat will be ending its useful life.

It's been a rough couple of days for me. I found out that a friend of mine died racing his Star boat last weekend. It sounds like he might have been hit by a microburst and jybed, and got knocked out of the boat. He was not wearing his PFD, and they retrieved his body from the bottom of the lake. He was one of the most respected sailors in the Colorado / Rocky Mountain region. But more importantly he was a truly excellent human being.
I know that the Swift keeps us all honest and respectful of the boat and the weather, but it still bears saying yet again - Always wear your PFD, and if temperatures are questionable, wear your wetsuit.
Be safe, practice your recovery drills and sail with confidence - Philip

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/swiftsolo/B888A504-4252-4517-B70A-BCDA2558D55E%40comcast.net.

Erik Schmalz

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 11:06:47 AM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Jesus. It’s pretty scary to hear of things like this. I’m sure we all have a healthy respect for the wind and the boats, but you (or at least I) certainly don’t expect death when out doing a fun thing on a nice day (even though we all know it happens). I’m sorry to hear about your friend.

I’m working on my mast support now and will have a shroud question, but I’ll save that for later.

-erik







swiftsolo1

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 1:10:49 PM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Philip so sorry to hear the news .. heart and prayers go out to all .

Paul 



Paul Osullivan
CEO, AMP RE Consulting. 

Mark White

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 5:09:22 PM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
I’m so sorry to hear the bad news.

Mark

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 23, 2020, at 10:06, Erik Schmalz <thist...@comcast.net> wrote:



swiftsolo1

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 6:25:58 PM6/23/20
to <swiftsolo@googlegroups.com>
Mark you ok? Still flying ? 

Virus free ?

Cheers Mate 

Paul Osullivan
CEO, AMP RE Consulting. 

Mark White

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 6:44:27 PM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
So far, so good.  How about you?

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 23, 2020, at 17:25, swiftsolo1 <paul.osu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mark you ok? Still flying ? 

Mark White

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 6:44:53 PM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Oops, yep still flying.

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 23, 2020, at 17:25, swiftsolo1 <paul.osu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mark you ok? Still flying ? 

swiftsolo1

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 10:20:34 PM6/23/20
to <swiftsolo@googlegroups.com>
Mark all good here ..heathy, Just,  after my major car crash .. work too hard but now getting out rowing a couple time a week .

Are you working ? 

Paul Osullivan
CEO, AMP RE Consulting. 

Mark White

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 10:46:51 PM6/23/20
to swif...@googlegroups.com
Start my annual recurrent/check ride tomorrow.  Car crash?

Sent from my iPad

On Jun 23, 2020, at 21:20, swiftsolo1 <paul.osu...@gmail.com> wrote:

Mark all good here ..heathy, Just,  after my major car crash .. work too hard but now getting out rowing a couple time a week .

swiftsolo1

unread,
Jun 23, 2020, 11:04:35 PM6/23/20
to <swiftsolo@googlegroups.com>
Good luck with the test I am sure you doing need luck cause you have this down .. strong ..

oh ya all good now…  but its been a while .. got hit on the free doing 75 plus and went for a ride .. through a crash barrier and down a steep hill, I got unlucky and then very very lucky !! 

Chat soon miss you guys 

 
Paul Osullivan
CEO, AMP RE Consulting. 
Reply all
Reply to author
Forward
0 new messages