It had never occurred to me as a sailor that the mast of my Sadler 34 was an upgradable piece of kit. In my mind it was as integral as the keel or rudder and had little potential for better performance. Or so I believed. It has been a horizon-broadening experience to speak to leading mast builders and installers to hear just what is at stake with good spar design.
On the cruising side, most of us will have a solid aluminium spar stayed with wire rope. Older boats up to 35ft might have a single set of lateral spreaders, while larger yachts could have two or three. Modern boats tend to have more spreaders, often swept back to add extra stability. But a growing minority of luxury bluewater cruisers are being fitted with carbonfibre spars from the off. And in many racing classes, you simply wouldn’t be competitive without it.
The vast majority of new masts are supplied to new boats, but there is a small refit market as well. Usually, the existing aluminium mast has been damaged or run its natural life and needs to be replaced but occasionally there is demand for an upgrade from aluminium to carbonfibre. Advanced Rigging & Hydraulics of Port Hamble has lots of experience here, and performed the work for the First 40 and Hylas 54 detailed in the box-outs that follow.
Aluminium craft
Aluminium is a relatively soft metal with a high strength to weight ratio – all characteristics that suit
