2020 Ezzy Zeta with No limitz sumo 460 mast?
I am trying to transition from Aerotech and Duotone to an Ezzy Zeta and it feels heavy and stiff.
Is the Sumo mast the problem? More downhaul??
I don't know anything about that mast, but when a recent Ezzy feels heavy it is almost always a case of not enough downhaul.
The sumo is stiffer than the original no limits mast. fwiw, no limits used to make ezzy masts I believe. Being stiffer you prob need more downhaul to get it to work. Bend curve between sumo and original is meant to be the same however the stiffness changes things.
www.nolimitz.com/specs
''another argument for the correct mast or at least the original no limits used if you can find one which should be better and will give you some mix and max options of tops with bottoms..
Select to expand quoteGestalt said..
The sumo is stiffer than the original no limits mast. fwiw, no limits used to make ezzy masts I believe. Being stiffer you prob need more downhaul to get it to work. Bend curve between sumo and original is meant to be the same however the stiffness changes things.
www.nolimitz.com/specs
''another argument for the correct mast or at least the original no limits used if you can find one which should be better and will give you some mix and max options of tops with bottoms..
Ezzy masts have changed quite a bit in the 20 or so years since they were made by nolimitz... they are much better now.
Select to expand quotejdfoils said..Gestalt said..
The sumo is stiffer than the original no limits mast. fwiw, no limits used to make ezzy masts I believe. Being stiffer you prob need more downhaul to get it to work. Bend curve between sumo and original is meant to be the same however the stiffness changes things.
www.nolimitz.com/specs
''another argument for the correct mast or at least the original no limits used if you can find one which should be better and will give you some mix and max options of tops with bottoms..
Ezzy masts have changed quite a bit in the 20 or so years since they were made by nolimitz... they are much better now.
Did they change the bend curve?
edit. I did some more digging.
ezzy 91 mast. 25imcs 62% - 77%
sumo 91 mast. 27imcs 64.5% - 76.5%
fwiw. Unifiber fl mast is 25imcs 62% 77%. According to unifiber ezzy masts are not cc..
As someone who has measured a lot of masts, I would not trust the manufacturers published bend curves.
In my experience, the 5 batten Zeta is less sensitive to masts than the Wave or Taka.
The 460 Sumo is a very burly mast and will feel heavy and unresponsive on many sails (like the Ezzy) which are at the flex-top end of the constant-curve spectrum. What size Zeta is this? If it will work on a 430 Ezzy then it definitely won't on the 460 Sumo.
Select to expand quotejdfoils said..
As someone who has measured a lot of masts, I would not trust the manufacturers published bend curves.
In my experience, the 5 batten Zeta is less sensitive to masts than the Wave or Taka.
It's very hard to be accurate when measuring masts. I'll put it to you that not discounting tolerances accuracy effected your results
Not at all difficult if you have a place with a level floor and two stands the same height (i use sawhorses with a v-block on top), i also use a gauge stick to measure spacing as it is easier to get an accurate measurement than using a tape
Mount the mast with the ends on the stands
Measure the length of the mast, calculate and mark the 25, 50, and 75% station locations.
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90 deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Calculate the deflections
Calculate the average, min, and max stiffness and bend %
Done, now move to your next mast
Variations between masts and in mast orientation are greater than the measurement accuracy; easy to verify using a gauge study
Select to expand quotejdfoils said..
Not at all difficult if you have a place with a level floor and two stands the same height (i use sawhorses with a v-block on top), i also use a gauge stick to measure spacing as it is easier to get an accurate measurement than using a tape
Mount the mast with the ends on the stands
Measure the length of the mast, calculate and mark the 25, 50, and 75% station locations.
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90 deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Rotate the mast 90deg
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Hang the weight
Measure the spacing to the floor at the 25, 50, and 75% stations
Calculate the deflections
Calculate the average, min, and max stiffness and bend %
Done, now move to your next mast
Variations between masts and in mast orientation are greater than the measurement accuracy; easy to verify using a gauge study
No floors are level. Previously I've used a string line or a leveled timber base. and like you each 90 deg turn provides different numbers. Used gear is note ideal..
I think you may also be inferring tolerances are all over the place. Surely that's a thing of the past. More advanced building techniques are more accurate. I know of a couple of brands that changed fabricators back in the day because tolerances were out of spec. They check random masts.
Select to expand quoteAwalkspoiled said..
The 460 Sumo is a very burly mast and will feel heavy and unresponsive on many sails (like the Ezzy) which are at the flex-top end of the constant-curve spectrum. What size Zeta is this? If it will work on a 430 Ezzy then it definitely won't on the 460 Sumo.
Think you nailed it
In my experience, heavy & unresponsive is what you will get when you rig a sail meant for flextop on a harder top mast. This is exacerbated by using the 460 since you are rigging on the stiffest section of mast & effectively moving the bend point up in the sail. If you go the other way - rigging a harder top sail on a flex top mast you will get a sail that is twitchy & lacks power - though it is easier to mitigate this with some outhaul/downhaul tweaking than the reverse(hardtop in flextop sail...) Also in my experience, the Sumo erred on the hardtop side so big difference to the OEM Ezzy which leans flextop. Masts which would work in the Ezzy IMO are Goya, Hotsails, Simmer, Chinook maybe others.
