I know the ezzy skinny masts can be combined for different sizes eg half a 400 and half a 460 to make up a 430 mast and in theory not need as many masts for a full range of sails.Does this work in practice or would the mast curves be incompatible with the sail designs? Maybe only ok on ezzy sails but I'm just guessing.

Which sails are you thinking of using with them? Hardie has used a 400 and a 460 to make a 430, he said it worked fine. I use a 460 top with a 430 bottom to make a 445 which is perfect for one of my sails, it works a treat.

Another benefit is if you break one half (you'd have to really be trying though!) you can buy just that half to replace it, instead of other brands where you have to buy the whole thing again.

I'm a believer, will only buy Ezzy skinnies from now on

I use a 370 bottom and 430 top to make a 400 for my Ezzy 4.7 and it seems to work well. I've never compared it against a standard 400, but the sail seems to rig as well as the others do on their specific masts.

Jens

Thanks for those replies, most of my sailing is currently on 430 - 490 standard diameter masts sails 5m to 7.5m. Next time I break a mast I will be looking at skinnies and liked the idea of economising on the number of masts without killing the range of sails and hopefully ...the performance.
So Nebs, are you using only ezzy sails as well as the ezzy masts?
I've read some threads indicating its best to keep NP masts with NP sails Ezzy with Ezzy etc. Now its real confusing as Severnes masts say theyre designed with loads more dynamic input than the usual imcs ratings. It may be nice to have all that stuff but is it only good for Severne's sails ?

Sailpilot,

I use Ezzy and Powerex masts (they're compatible with each other), as well as Ezzy and Loft sails.

The critical point here is "Constant Curve". Without going into too much detail, if you have a constant curve mast, with a sail that's designed for a constant curve mast, then it doesn't matter which brands you choose. Ezzy, Sailworks, Loft, post-2007 Gaastra, Severne (I think!), KA all use constant curve masts. These companies have seen the light and chosen a standard, which can only be a good thing!

One problem you might run into is that there aren't many bigger sails that use cams, where the cams are designed to fit on a skinny mast. I got around this by using a Loft sail, which is one of the few that do use skinnies.

Next time I rig my 6m I'll try using a 400 bottom with a 460 top and see how it sets.

THanks for the explanation Nebs, most of my current sails are NP and aerotech so I'd be guessing that they aren't constant curve. Masts are NP so no worries until I change to skinnies.
Let us know how the 400 and 460 combo goes for you.
Cheers

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sailpilot said...

Thanks for those replies, most of my sailing is currently on 430 - 490 standard diameter masts sails 5m to 7.5m. Next time I break a mast I will be looking at skinnies and liked the idea of economising on the number of masts without killing the range of sails and hopefully ...the performance.
So Nebs, are you using only ezzy sails as well as the ezzy masts?
I've read some threads indicating its best to keep NP masts with NP sails Ezzy with Ezzy etc. Now its real confusing as Severnes masts say theyre designed with loads more dynamic input than the usual imcs ratings. It may be nice to have all that stuff but is it only good for Severne's sails ?

About the Severnes - Ben provided some info on the bend here a while back (maybe 18 months ago?). He uses more measuring stations along the mast. If you interpolate among the measurements a 12% bend is implied which (if correct) is dyed in the wool "constant curve".

When Ezzy talks about mixing mast halves he recommends using the shorter half on the bottom and the longer one on the top. This implies that resulting combo will be relatively stiff in the top and soft in the bottom.

Ezzy sails have a particularly loose top panel and a stretchy gusset at the top of the luff to make them even more responsive. Also they don't like a lot of downhaul so the stiff top probably doesn't impair the breathing at all. However the bottom of the sail will set flatter. If you are looking for power or a low centre of lift it may be better to go the other way ie long bottom and short top. Maybe someone should try it.

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sailpilot said...

THanks for the explanation Nebs, most of my current sails are NP and aerotech so I'd be guessing that they aren't constant curve. Masts are NP so no worries until I change to skinnies.
Let us know how the 400 and 460 combo goes for you.
Cheers

As far as I know Aerotechs are Constant curve too.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I have heard Ezzy mast actually lean towards being more flexible in the top. Not so sure about sizes under 430 but seems to be the case in larger sizes.

Actually I just found a guide on Ezzy's site to the mixing of masts and he only indicates mixing close sizes eg 400 with 430 to make a 415 etc etc. So maybe I'm incorrect in assuming you can skip a whole size to reduce the number of masts you need? But it would be nice if thats the case, and would be a strong selling point for them.

I have a complet 460 and a bottom 400 in the ezzy range.
I use a top 460 and bottom 400 to get a 430 mast for my 5.5. It seems rigs quite well but throws the swoosh indicator out a bit (as in the flop dosn't line up properly), so careful attention is needed.!
Last time I sailed this combo I was over powered and centre of effort was to high so I could have used more downhaul than It seemed to indicate, so I will rig with more downhaul next time on this mast combo - maybe somthing to look out for.