Mast questions

[sailordie1962]

Hi guys,

I have an 1968 DS-1. It is the third boat of this type I have owned, the first was a 1979 DS-2 and the second was a clone, a 1962 Sailstar Explorer.
I bought the DS-2 when I first mover to Iowa years ago. Excited to find it on Craigslist for only 850. Drove a long way to see it, and unfortunately arrived after dark.
The boat looked good in the dark, and it followed me home. The next day, I discovered the boat had apparently filled with water at some point while on the trailer, and the boat had settled over the bunks - effectively creating two 2" deep x 2' long and 4' wide suction cups on the hull bottom. This made the boat VERY slow. I only sailed it twice, and was quite dissatisfied with the performance. So, I decided to look for another boat.

I found the Sailstar on Craigslist, and it looked the same, but this boat had been rigged for racing. Spinnaker equipped, larger diameter shrouds, nice vang, and decent sails. Best of all, no hull dents! I bought it for only 600 dollars, and was happy with my new boat. For a while. The problem with the Sailstar is that they have a glassed over plywood floor. Over time, the wood rots under the glass. The first time this was a problem came when I tensioned the shrouds and forestay for heavy air, and took the boat out in @15 knots and medium chop. After about 15 minutes, the mast (which stepped on the plywood floor) broke through the floor! I was lucky it didn't go through the hull underneath as I limped the boat back to the dock. I got a few more years out of the boat after repairing that damage, but the mainsheet also mounted to the floor, and that too failed and pulled out of the floor on a particularly windy day, causing a capsize and subsequent turtling. Due to the amount of work needed to replace the floor, and because the Sailstar is heavier that a DS in the first place, I decided to look for a different boat.

Craigslist is my friend! I found a run down, but sound, DS-1 in La Crosse Wisconsin. A deal was made, and home we went. This boat was very basic, no spin, and had the tabernackle mast. And a screw jack. I decided to use the mast (one piece) from the Sailstar because it was already spin rigged and (of course) one piece. I switched out the foot plate on the mast to allow the use of the screw jack on the Sailstar mast, and took the boat to the water to try it out. But there was a problem!

Because the Sailstar had a wood deck, the mast foot was @ 6 or 7 inches higher than the actual hull of the boat. When I dropped the mast through the cabin top, it fell short of engaging more than about 1/2" of the mast jack pin before the vang bail mounted to the mast bottomed out on the cabin top! No sailing that day, as I drove the hour and a half home disgusted with myself for not trying out the rig at home beforehand.

To solve the problem, I built a wooden step platform out of pressure treated deck boards on the keelson, and then mounted the screw jack to that. Works great! I now have very high quality adjustable shrouds and forestay, as well as the mast jack to tension them all up once the length is satisfactory.

Which brings me to my question. Would this be class legal to race? The rig and sails are identical, but the rig height is probably a little taller due to the platform. It also raises the boom height above the cockpit by a couple inches. Right now I'm racing it against keel boats in PHRF, but I think it would be fun to race it OD. I have done a LOT of restoration to the boat's cosmetics, most recently a new hull paint job. I might post some pictures if I can figure out how some day.
Thanks for reading through to the end of my long winded post! Any info will be appreciated.

[GreenLake]

Well the best person to answer an interpretation of the class rules would be the class measurer. He occasionally participates here.

In the meantime, the actual class rules are up on the main DSA site https://daysailer.org. See https://daysailer.org/resources/Documents/dsbylaw3.pdf

The way those rules are written, they effectively define a maximum luff length for the mainsail, but also limit how far above the deck the main can be positioned. They don't regulate the length of the mast itself.

If your boom sits higher than 24" above the deck this would reduce the actual maximum luff length. So you would be better off repositioning the boom to where it gives you the maximum allowable luff.

The bylaws also specify the maximum height of the spreaders above the deck. If yours sit too high, you might need to move them. Same for the spinnaker fitting.

If you are out of dimension for all of them, you might want to look into shaving a few inches of your platform instead, and relocating the boom vang (which is an item with some flexibility in regulated position under the class rules). But start with doing the measurements, paying attention to the way they are defined in the rules and noting which are maximums. That should give you an idea.

[sailordie1962]

Thanks! I will look into it and take some measurements. Just offhand, do you know if the deck height includes the "house" top? For example, is the boom height measured from the top of the house? I just finished covering the boat and moving it into the barn yesterday. I guess I should have thought about this sooner!

[sailordie1962]

BTW, my newest set of sails are Intensity Sails, and I presume they are class legal. I can still get full hoist out of them with the rig where it is.

[tomodda]

Yes, it's measured from the roof the cuddy, aka "The Datum." Everything below that doesn't matter for the measure, so feel free to adjust your mast "platform" as needed.

[sailordie1962]

Thank you! I seriously doubt I'm above 24" from the cabin top, but I will need to set the rig up to measure.

[sailordie1962]

BTW, I have two extra tabernacle masts, another full rudder set up, and assorted parts from my older boats that went to the Great Venue In The Sky.

I'm in Iowa, and anyone local can contact me for things they need...

[GreenLake]

The bylaws are very precise in defining how to measure the mast datum. My understanding is that they reference the cuddy top, but exclude anything extra added to reinforce the mast partners.

If you want to dispose of extra items, we have a "for sale" section in this forum. That's the place to list your items, and you can be very detailed. All information you enter there will disappear in 60 days, which keeps the forum clean, but should be long enough to find someone interested. You can always list any unsold items a second time if needed. Be sure to include your state in the subject line for any item that can't be shipped. And be clear in how you'd like people to contact you.

[sailordie1962]

Will do. Thanks.