Sunfish mast

The local aluminum supplier normally has them in 20' lengths. You may see a charge for cutting ONE to a 10' length.

If you buy two 10' lengths, you could sell one here at the forum or Craigslist, and there may not be a charge for the cutting.

Freight is another matter! :eek:
 
freight on the 10 ft aluminum tube is the killer...
A metal supplier gets truckloads of long material every week. Stuffing a length of tube on the truck won't add significantly (if at all) to the shipping for that week's load.
 
Oh yes...Don't have it cut by a pipe cutter, as it will shrink the cut ends--then the Sunfish end caps won't fit. :confused:

The dealer should use a HD mechanical hacksaw or special circular saw--for metal.

If you're within a few miles of the ocean, I'd coat the inside of the mast (and spars, while you're at it) with an anti-corrosive grease, oil or paste.
 
what kind of aluminum should I order. I found on one of the forums that I need to use 6063 anodized aluminum 2.25" OD, 0.065 thickness, gauge 16. I have not been able to find any aluminum supplier in FL that sells it and when I go online the cost is prohibitive ($150 shipping for a $30 piece of tubing)
 
Two years ago, a friend bought two 20-footers in Rhode Island—or maybe it was Massachusetts—had them cut into four masts, and drove up on another mission to deliver them to me. I still have the three new ones, and have since sleeved the old one, which had "folded" on me in a storm.

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I list them on a New Hampshire forum for the best price the prospective buyer can gather from the Internet, and don't charge for freight. (They are to drive here, and pick them up). No sales as yet, but aluminum prices aren't going down. ;)
 
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The problem is:

These are OVERSIZED by length and ship directly from Connecticut. Ground in the continental USA is usually around $125 by truck.
Costs almost as much for freight as for the mast.

Sunfish Masts use a 2 1/4" OD (.083" wall) Round Tube.

Get the right tube in the right length.... and it will work.
 
I am in Florida. Is there a way that you could sell me one of those and ship it to me?
:( Dunno—like to. :) Check on the note, quoted below:

This PVC pipe is a rigid container that will protect your fragile extrusions while in transit. We have found that long thin items have a very high rate of damage in transit when shipped in cardboard tubes or boxes via UPS, FedEx or USPS. If shipped by motor freight, the same items usually arrive safely but require a shipping charge of approximately $100. To avoid both excessive damage and extremely high shipping charges, we are requiring all 6-foot and 8-foot extrusions be shipped in long PVC tubes.

I'm in central New Hampshire. If you can wait until October, I can personally drive a ten-footer down through Florida's Route 27, in Central Florida. In the meantime, check on 1700 miles of "freight". This may be too much money for you; surely, there are local Florida metal suppliers with this in stock. You may have to buy two—or pay a surcharge for one 10-footer.

Come to think of it, my "sleeved" mast repair-job can come apart for shipping—not "freight". :) (Unless I cut a few inches off the longer piece, it'd still be a little over 8-feet long). :oops:

Now that I know that a broken mast can be satisfactorily repaired, I'm curious—was this Sunfish mast lost through theft, damage, a "sailing misadventure" :eek: or something else?

"Trade-ins" accepted! :cool:
 
I have long advocated for using a tree as the mast. A nice straight tree trunk of the right diameter would be virtually free. However no one has tried out my proposal.
 
The first sunfishes did use tree trunks. I'm surprised they're not totally plastic nowadays. Old pole vault poles?
 
It may or may not work for a mast tube but... check into "unaccompanied baggage" on Greyhound or other bus company. Time may not be express and length may not work but worth a call. I know skiers that send their skiis ahead by bus or UPS rather than pay the checked baggage fee on planes.
 
This note for Light and Variable Winds: I can wait until Oct. How far south on highway 27 are you driving and how much are you willing to sell it for? A friend gave me his old Sunfish but did not have a mast.
 
I was able to find a metal supplier within 1 hour of my house that sells 6061-T6 aluminum. It is about $60 for a 12 foot piece of 2 1/4" OD, 0.083 thick. The only question that I have is that this aluminum is NOT anodized. Can I still use it?
 
As for my price: I only want to recover my cost plus inflation. (So, whatever the lowest price you can find is "the price".) "Freight" involves your picking it up.

I was able to find a metal supplier within 1 hour of my house that sells 6061-T6 aluminum. It is about $60 for a 12 foot piece of 2 1/4" OD, 0.083 thick. The only question that I have is that this aluminum is NOT anodized. Can I still use it?
Yes, but it would be better if your present sail is already black (or gray) ! ;)

(I thought a local supplier was "out there"—some offer free delivery!) :)

A bargain! :cool: Have the supplier cut it to 10-length: he'll use a better method of cutting than the non-professional. First, make sure both ends are "square". :confused: One coat of "chrome"-color spray paint (which looks like aluminum :oops: ) will protect your sail for several seasons. (A can of spray-paint is frequently referred to as a "bug-spray can"). :D

Some Florida communities use aluminum sign posts. These turn up at "recycling yards" for peanuts. :rolleyes:
 
Anodizing isn't really all that hard to do yourself... and you get to pick the color.

The main issue will be finding the "pan" to do it in for a piece that long.

Anodizing and dyeing aluminum without battery acid...

To not end up with a line down the tube you need to make conductive supports that hold the tube off the bottom, but maintain the electrical contact with the cathode.

Note: the gooseneck will tend to scrape anodizing off over time. Just a fact of metal rubbing on metal.
 
While I would hate to cut one of my new masts to 8' to save on the $150 freighting charge :( the two pieces you receive can be rejoined with a metal "scrap" pipe from a muffler shop (with pop-rivets and anti-corrosives). As an internal "sleeve", it's a perfect fit where masts tend to fold—would likely be free—and you can always ask for stainless steel. :cool:

Search here for "Meineke", as there are three threads on the subject.
 
Btw, for the record, masts do not "tend to fold." I've seen ones used in salt water snap at the deck or gooseneck, but having sailed Sunfish, and raced a lot, for decades, I have never seen one fold. LVW had one fold, and he can clarify, but I don't think that was an OEM Sunfiah mast.
 
• As BB has stated earlier, the mast can break at the gooseneck. That's about the right place for a "Meineke sleeve" when restoring a new—but chopped for shipping purposes—8-foot mast to the regulation 10-foot mast. :)

• There's a definite bend to my old, broken, mast. Perhaps it would be better to say my broken mast appears to have "started to fold"—when it "fractured". ;)

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Which reminds me: I've got to get the "Meineke sleeved" mast onto Craigslist. ;)
 
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:rolleyes: Very funny—but too late—the repaired mast has already been straightened. ;)

Anodizing isn't really all that hard to do yourself... and you get to pick the color. The main issue will be finding the "pan" to do it in for a piece that long. Anodizing and dyeing aluminum without battery acid...To not end up with a line down the tube you need to make conductive supports that hold the tube off the bottom, but maintain the electrical contact with the cathode. Note: the gooseneck will tend to scrape anodizing off over time. Just a fact of metal rubbing on metal.
Unless you want a lesson in the value of solar burning of your fingers, don't anodize to the color—BLACK! :eek:
 
Well a boom can be repaired. Finally got around to pulling the 2 sail out of the bag from a free Sunfish. The boom from the front to behind the
goose-neck was a separate piece inserted over the boom and welded on with a circular weld. I'm wondering if this is class legal for racing? Boats
are funny in that you can see the mark of more that one owner in the repairs. Early repairs are professional and later repairs tend to be a bit sloppy.
 
If you need to get sailing a 2 inch pvc pipe fits the mast hole better than a Sunfish mast. You would need to cap both ends and
go old-style with a pulley at the top of the mast. Should work well on the cheap until something better comes along.
 
If you need to get sailing a 2 inch pvc pipe fits the mast hole better than a Sunfish mast. You would need to cap both ends and
go old-style with a pulley at the top of the mast. Should work well on the cheap until something better comes along.
That will not work at all. It'll bend like crazy.
 

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