Weird lower mast section

invisty

New Member
So I bought an old unloved '76 laser from someone's shed, and I'm hoping to make it floatable for this summer as a knockabout. Restoration thread anyone?

This is my first time dealing with lasers, and I didn't spot an issue when I picked it up - after a double-take on the lower mast section, I measured it to be 2050mm long, which, upon checking the officiale website, seems very non-standard. It has no evidence of being shortened, stressed, broken, etc. In my experience, aluminium never cuts or breaks quite so cleanly. Why would the lower section be so abnormally short? Am I looking at an aborted sleeving job?

IMG_20200911_171256.jpg


Top end of the lower spar (left).

IMG_20200911_171232.jpg


I'm considering using a very similar mast section (right), which has the same internal diameter, but is about 1mm thicker (and still fits).
For a knockabout boat, what's the worst that could happen?
 
Yours is 2050:
Standard is 2865
Radial is 2262
4.7 is 1810

So yes this might have been shortened. What is the sail that came with it? Has that been modified? Has it been used as a mast? Are there wear marks at deck level? Was it used for a different boat? Maybe it is not a Laser mast anyway. There were/are many Laser clones or similar boats it might have come from.

Is your boat actually a Laser or a clone?

Making the bottom of thicker metal will mean it is very stiff, if sail is still a normal Laser one it will not set well and will cause you problems in stronger conditions. Does any of this matter? If you don't care them no body else will!
 
What is the sail that came with it? Has that been modified? Has it been used as a mast? Are there wear marks at deck level? Was it used for a different boat? Maybe it is not a Laser mast anyway. There were/are many Laser clones or similar boats it might have come from.

Yes its definitely a laser, has the old stamp on the transom indicating the hull #36719 and year of manufacture. I believe it was made here in NZ. The sail is a standard size, and the spar has the laser fittings for the time. Excepting the height, the dimensions are a match for a regular laser spar.

I agree with your concerns about the substitute spar. I have no idea as to the grade of aluminium and I don't believe there's any easy way to determine what it is, but aside from stiffness and a slightly tighter fit in the hull, it fits the upper section and... yeah. It's a knockabout.
 
Eric, the M rig had a Standard lower mast paired with a shorter topmast. This rig is an "M" only meaning it's a Mystery :confused:

What are the diameter(s) and the wall thickness?

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