What to do with a Spliced Mast

[MFC]

That's a great point, Bill. I was wondering how Fred's 44' max tube limit applied if there was no splice or weld . . .. I think I ought to be able to track down an answer through Spartan directly. If I get anywhere with that, I will let everyone know since it certainly would be of interest to some others.
Matt

[John Schafer]

I have a 40' Cape Dory and its mast is spliced to. With about a 54' overall length how would you ship it as new if not making it in two pieces? My surveyor, Rob Eberly, described mast as" The main spar was a double section of extruded aluminum by Spartan Spars finished in natural anodizing with internal butt sleeve mechanically fastened above the first spreader".

[Maine Sail]

Whoa.........!

Guys, it is very common for masts to be spliced. It DOES NOT mean this was a repair, mistake or mishap. It usually means the spar had to be shipped, the spar itself was not available in this country or the extrusions maker had limited length capability. You won't see many one piece extrusion from any of the European spar makers.

Proctor, and that spar looks a little like it could be a Proctor, were tapered racing spars shipped from Europe. Each and every Proctor spar I've seen is spliced and there are ton of them out there. They were the cutting edge, racing type spars in the mid to late seventies through early 80's.

My own boat has a spliced Proctor spar, She has about 40-45k NM on her over 30 years with ZERO splice issues. You can't honestly think these mega yachts with 150' - 200' foot spars actually don't have splices? Can't ship a 200 foot spar nor extrude one for that matter. Of course they get assembled, Awlgriped and faired over on site so you can't see them, but the splices are there..

Do not get worked up over this. A proper splice is very, very strong and it is actually quite common. It does not mean there was an accident with your spar. It is not surprising the surveyor did not note this because it is quite common with boats that used foreign spars or spars who's manufacturer had limited extrusion lengths.

[kerlandsen]

I can only relate my little corner of the world, but somewhat recently, I was working at a sail loft in MA.
I was responsible for getting the battens used in Mirabella V from Concord MA to Southampton, England.

Anyone know the vessel, 247 ft overall. The longest batten was 4" dia carbon fiber and 85' long. Yes, 85 feet. I packed it inside PVC tubing and strapped them onto a special extension semi truck. Had a police escort to Newark, NJ and a special spot onthe deck of a freighter. Trip went great, no mishaps. Of course it was not cheap, but on par with the magnitude of the entire project from our end. We build the mainsail and cut the panels for the other sails as well.

The best part was when I carried the two shortests peices from the manufacturer in Concord, ot our loft in Marblehead. They were about twice the length of my Subaru. No mishaps with that either, thank god.

I have no experience with Splicing masts, but I thought the shipping annecdotes would be fun. Oh, and they broke the longest batten eventually, and the replacment was a splice on site in England. Much simpler.

[mahalocd36]

A proper splice is very, very strong and it is actually quite common.

Our CD36 mast was originally not made in one piece either. It's more of a 'weld' I guess, but it's original. I would not be surprised if most of them are that way. We never gave it a second thought.

[Maine Sail]

Anyone know the vessel, 247 ft overall. The longest batten was 4" dia carbon fiber and 85' long. Yes, 85 feet. I packed it inside PVC tubing and strapped them onto a special extension semi truck. Had a police escort to Newark, NJ and a special spot onthe deck of a freighter.

Imaging what shipping like that would add to the cost of a production boat with a police officer on double secret, quadruple, over time..

[Oswego John]

Well, maybe not spliced, but I am talking about masts that are in several sections.

On larger sized commercial sailing ships, many of which are multi masted, the wooden masts were usually in two or more sections, preferably of Sitka spruce. Sure, the full length of the mast could have been made of a single tree trunk. However, as the butt of the mast is full diameter, the upper portion of a one piece mast is much thinner and because of the taper, much strength is lost aloft.

In order to attain necessary height and maintain the needed mast strength, a full diameter second mast section was attached usually ahead of the lower main mast section. Because there was no hollow core in the mast sections, it wasn't possible or practical to use an internal splint to join the mast sections together.

It was a common practice to cut a "gain", or a flat surface on the rounded masts where the mast sections overlapped and joined together, usually at or near the trestletrees. This prevented the mast sections from rolling on each other and made for a stronger juncture..

.....and then they started making masts out of aluninum alloys. Three cheers for heliarc, nobel gasses and TIG.

Ah, progress.
O J
That should be noble, not nobel. Scusa.

[fenixrises]

Hi all,

A bit of info from Lefiell:

http://www.lefiell.com/cruisemast.html

Take care,
Fred