Mast top sections

M

moranatang

New Member
What are the strongest top sections for a laser and is an austrialian one better than an english one.
Where to buy one from as well
 
There is no ryme or reason to this. The best thing to do is find a local stor that may have several in stock and do the "ping" test on each one before you buy. US, AUS, UK it won't matter which.
 
Easiest way to tell is to weigh the spars. They can be from 2.8kg's to 3.1kg's and this can make A LOT of difference. Bendy (2.8kg) if you are a light weight or stiff (3.1kg) if you are a pie eater! It depends what batch of tubing each region orders at the time so it's a bit of pot luck if you can the right stiffness!
 
Don't worry, Australian top sections bend and break as easily as any others (3 broken over course of 2 seasons:()

Peter In Tassie
 
it depends, when they are made i heard, i had a very stiff and hard aussie mast, but after to many deathroll's on the ijsselmeer it has a big bend, i had good english mast, but some bad, they have the habbit off bending because of the vang tension after a few months. only have one broken, and i think about 3bend, 1aussie and 2uk's. They all break and bend.

Greetz Tom
 
When the aluminium tube is extruded from a new 'extruder' [dont know the techical term] it is thin walled. Over time the extruder wares and the tube wall comes out thicker. After a few thousand tubes the extruder is replaced. Hence light and heavy sections, it just depends if yours was early or late in the life of the extruder.
 
having been through 13 boats in 21 years and countless broken/bent top sections believed that stiffer was better/stronger, until I by accident came upon a second boat for the cottage with horrid looking spars....I end for ended the top section, and in the process noticed the wall thickness was the thinest by far that I had ever seen (believe it to have been a 1974 or so vintage). For a time thought I would never use it in heavy wind and carried it along to the Canadians at Gimli a couple of years ago. Having bent a brand new section aft and sideways after the first race in windy conditions, managed to endure two more that day, replacing it with the decreped old section mentioned. Not only did it not break or bend in two more days of 15-25k conditions it was fast, having managed to round first in two races at the weather mark. So much for what I once thought about weight/stiffness/longevity!
a point though when end for ending (which is a good idea after a lot of use to almost double the life of the spar) is to pay close attention to the mounting measurement tolerences as this can equate to bendy/stiff

Go skinny if you can find it!
 
OK Laserbrown, I'll bite. Tell me why en for ending will double the life of my spar andhow the measuring tolerances equate to bendy/stiff.
Thanks, Andrew
 
The measuring tolerances refer to the weight and thickness of any laser mast section/extruded aluminum.

All manufactured items have allowabel tolerances they can fall within and still be acceptable to the engineering drawings/plans. There are too many variables in any process to insure that every single piece ends up the exact same.

As a result you will find some mast sections that are just a bit thicker/heavier than others. The thinking is these beefier sections will hold up better and are less likely to bed/break than the lighter ones, but the question is, does anyone know for sure?

I can't speak towards the end for ending theory.
 
My top section that I am currently using has been end for ended. Basically the bend forms near the rivets where the two sections of mast join. This can only be straightened so many times and just gets weaker and weaker. Straighten the mast as much as possible and then change the fittings around and the weaker part is then at the very top of the sail with a lot less load on it and you have a straight top section again (until the next windy day).

My current mast would have snapped a long time ago if it wasn't for this, and its getting to the point I really need to buy a new one.
 
Strangler said:
When the aluminium tube is extruded from a new 'extruder' [dont know the techical term] it is thin walled. Over time the extruder wares and the tube wall comes out thicker. After a few thousand tubes the extruder is replaced. Hence light and heavy sections, it just depends if yours was early or late in the life of the extruder.
Click to expand...

Its called a die:D
 
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