makeshift mast and sail for lone star 16

[bengatte]

hello all.

some time ago i posted about a lone star 16 that came into my life. it is missing mast and sails, and i wondered what my options might be. i thank all those who responded with kind advice.

re-fabicating, while a good option, might be prohibitive cost-wise as is shipping parts from the 16-ft lonestar for sale in califonia.

recently i came across a mast for sale that measures 16 feet. with it there is another aluminum piece with that is about 8 feet long that mounts horizontaly on bottom of larger piece (boom ?). there is also a large fabric sail with another smaller sail, bracket to mount mast, stainless steel cables & misc hardware.

it is a professional looking unit, and it might have been used with a canoe perhaps? so together there is masthead , baseplate turnbuckles & more.

i am not too confident about my shipwright skills, although i am handy. i guess what i am wondering about is how difficult would it be to adapt the above or build something or customize it to make it all work together. is it simply a matter of getting the mast secure, upright and tight (is this a major deal and hard to do unless pieces fit exact? maybe the hardest thing of all to do in sailing?) or am i looking at something that is near-impossible and inevitable frustration. can i just find a fitting that fits and mount it to the floor of the sailboat?

i welcome all advice and comment. thanks!

[mikepaddle]

Per the LS-16 manual, the mast height is 24'1'. The mast on my 16 was destroyed in a monster wind storm. The previous owner could not locate a 16 mast but, through research, found that the Buccaneer mast is identical. I guess that Chrysler was very innovative in their time at using a "one size fits all" mast arrangement for their models.

F.Y.I. The Bucc mast has a "slight" bit of extra girth, uses a different step plate and should be considerably easier to locate. The extra girth makes a slight snug fit through the oval cutout in the seating area. I had trouble with my balance while stepping solo through the snug oval and added a tabernacle.

I still have my original suit of sails and an excellent second set that were built by Mariner Sails in Dallas. You could contact Aris via their website www.mariner-sails.com for any pricing.

Best to youo on your restoration.

Mike

[bengatte]

yes, i did read that the mast for the lone star tops 24 ft. and obviously the original spec is the preferred choice. would using a 16 ft assembly be a total failure and not work at all? six feet sounds like a lot of missing sail and perhaps not be strong enough catch wind and to enjoy the boat. i will take your suggestion and look for a buccaneer mast. thanks. ps. i'm guessing you meant turnbuckle...

[LeatherneckPA]

In my totally inexperienced opinion, I would think that losing 6' from the top of the mast would severely under power your boat.

I've seen pictures of mikepaddle's tabernacle solution. Way cool! It would get your 16' mast up another 12-18 inches, but I still think you'd be unhappy.

As far as your shipwright skills go, we all started somewhere. I haven't read of any of us who were raised in a boatbuilding environment so I say have at it. Something I have discovered with my woodworking (at which I am now very good, even if I do say so myself) is to not let the BIG picture psych you out. Even the largest project is really only a series of smaller individual steps that follow in a logical progression. One little step at a time and you'll restore a boat you will be proud of.

[bengatte]

how little i know about sailing. indeed, there is something called a "tabernacle'... and i thought they were just for mormons... my apologies mike (mikepaddle). you learn something new every day.

as for the 16 ft mast-- the attraction was that it would be a complete solution, and relatively inexpensive. i did harbor some reservations about the smaller size though, thanks mike (leatherneckpa).

back to the drawing board...

[kokezaru]

Bengatte,
I agree with leatherneckPA, you would be unhappy with a smaller mast.
This is just a rough calc, since I don't know the exact specs on the LS-16. The sail area for the stock mainsail is 110sqft with a 24' mast, I will assume that your usable sail luff is actually closer to 21', and that would mean that the stock boom would be about 10.5'. But if you used an 8' boom, and a 16' mast (usable mast at about 13'), your sail area would only be 52sqft. That's less than half, and would be like putting in three reefs. It would be great on a really windy day, but not much fun in light airs.
Mind you, that calculation was just for the main sail, you will probably have less sail area for the jib too, but it would be less significant since the original rig is fractional, and with the smaller mast you could set it up as a masthead rig.