Carbon vs Aluminum

[william24424]

Aluminum masts still seem the standard for production sailboats, they probably cost half as much as a carbon rig, but Tartan and other production boats are starting to include carbon fiber masts for their fleets. For an upgrade it seems expensive, but like every other improvement, the price may become more affordable with time. Have any of you upgraded the mast? Do you think it worth the price? How much improvement in performance?

 

[Andy]

Freedom unstayed mast

We had a Freedom 21; the standard mast was carbon fiber, unstayed mast. I was amazed at how it would bend off in a blow, shake in a crash jibe, and keep on trucking. Its probable a matter of time and which gets more expensive-aluminum ore or oil. The reason I drink beer is to recycle the cans for masts!(ha ha)

 

[Steve Dion]

Reduced weight aloft, but the price!

William:I am sure that a carbon fiber mast is going to improve performance on most any boat, but at what cost?I think that they are also a lot more delicate, so they probably need special care. One of the Santa Cruz 52's that was being delivered from the Pacific Cup Race to Hawaii lost their mast on a delivery run. I know about several other carbon rigs that have failed, so it would not be my choice, but if you race that may be different.

 

[Ross]

When all else fails we can go back to growing

masts. They don't cost very much but they do add a bit of weight aloft.

 

[Moody Buccaneer]

Cost facter

We just quoted both carbon fibre and aluminum for a 50 footer. The carbon rig was about 3 time the cost (both custom masts).If carbon is a factory option on a boat, I would expect the cost difference to be less.Racing rigs in general fail more often that cruising rigs, no matter what the construction material is.I have not heard of many failures in production carbon masts. The Nonsuch, Freedom, J-Boat, and Swan production masts seem to be every bit as reliable as their alloy counterparts.Randy