Often words are not enough; today one needs to have pictures (real or CAD) to be taken seriously. So here a picture report of the unstayed and collapsable F12 rig using plain standardized aluminium tubing. Both this mast and the sail can be bought commercially of the (landyachting) company Seagull ( www.seagull.fr ) for respectively 240 Euro's and 577 Euro's including 20% European retail taxes. The rig shown has been used by myself for several years now and I know it will stand up to the stresses and forces any F12 design can put on it. The only modification to use this setup on the F12 sailboat is increasing the draft of the sail as well as entlarging it slightly to 7.00 sq. mtr. This can be done by adding a triangle of cloth to the bottom and entlarging the luff length. The shown mast is actually 5.650 mtr tall, but it can be entlarged to 6.000 mtr without any issues or redesigning.

The pictures will be largely selfexplanatory.

There are 4 parts to note :

-1- The way the sections are connected
-2- The way the mast collapsed where the top sections are put inside the bottom section for storage.
-3- The simplicity of the mainsail top hook that is flush with the top of the mast and can rotate.
-4- The free hanging gooseneck.

The mast sections are simple slide into one another and are held in place by a simple rim secured by to screws or blind rivets. The rim is nothing more then small cut-off of the section below the connection.

The mainsail hook setup is again simply a cut-off of the section lower on the mast with a large bolt placed through the top. The mainsail has a reinforced eye and a simple shackle completes the setup.

It will clear from these descriptions and pics how this mast can be homebuild in less then 2 hours by a complete amateur while using simple household tools like a metal saw, a power drill and a screwdriver or rivet tang.

That is all there is too it and this is actually one of the greatest arguments for using a mast design like this. Its components are very easy to source and it is downright cheap and easily build.

The mast foot for this design can either by a simple pod or two sets of holes that take a large bolt. Again, this can be had using simple house hold tools.








Folding the mast and storing the sections inside itself :







[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_folding_mast_step_04_small_pic.jpg[/img]



The way the build the connection between different mast sections :

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_folding_mast_section_connections_01.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_folding_mast_section_connections_02.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_folding_mast_section_connections_03.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_folding_mast_section_connections_04.jpg[/img]



The mainsail mast hook and how to (home)build the top fitting :

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_mainsail_mast_hook_01_small_pic.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_mainsail_mast_hook_02_small_pic.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_mainsail_mast_hook_03_small_pic.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/124554-F12_rig_mainsail_mast_hook_04_small_pic.jpg[/img]



Now I challenge anybody here to design an equally modern looking rig that is cheaper, quicker and more easily (home)build out of commonly available parts then this design. We should also note that this design can be fully optimized for F12 sailing by the owner, something that can not as easily done when using second hand surf masts and sails.


Wouter