>>Wouter, I actually like your design

Which one of the two ?

I like them all, am most attracted to the 1st, which is closest to my T shape, but honestly, I think it's the appearance that appeals to me, and that's probably not the best reason to choose it.

After some thought I would personally do it even simpler in your case. Just two vertical planks and alu strips as top and bottom. And have the the outward facing corners of the timber plancks rounded at a woodshop. That should be sufficient to score "good" on the hurting your head aspect.

So, the vertical planks would have an elliptical shape (narrower near the ends), and the alum strips would be constant width and thickness? Maybe 2" x .25" alum strips? A max width of the side planks of 6" to 8"?

>>Aluminum strips on the 3 edges?

This question refered to the original T shape.

>>I'll consider an aluminum pole, What dia, and wall thickness?

Also for this I need to know the loads and such. However 80x2 round sections are pretty much commonly available and should hold. Such a section should only weight 3.40 kg (7.5 lbs) per 2.5 mtr (8 feet) length. This is probably bigger then needs be but it will give you a feeling of what we are talking about. If such a section is made out of carbon then it would still weight about 2.30 kg (= 5 lbs). So how much are you willing to spend on 2.5 lbs weight savings ?

Type of aluminum alloy?

How long is the foot of your mainsail ? And what kind of purchase are you using on your mainsheet ?

The main has a luff of 34', foot of 11', square top. Currently running 10 to 1 mainsheet, I think about 12 to 1.


Thanks Wouter, and others, I'm enjoying this education.

Dave