New mast?

[Peter34]

Hi all,

I'm curious to hear thoughts on this idea I have. I've been considering replacing the mast of my Ericson 23-2. The current mast is original and seems in fine shape (29 ft tall). However, it really seems incredibly heavy. I have put it up and taken it down twice since I've owned the boat. I know it was designed for this, but the weight of it really seems put a lot of stress on the chain plates as I winch it up or down. I actually had an old brass shackle break during the first time up ( have since replaced all old shackles) causing the mast to suddenly fall. Fortunately, no one was injured and boat and mast seemed to have not been injured. My thinking is a newer mast made with modern techniques would be much lighter and therefore make the boat more of a true "trailer-sailor." As in easier/quicker to set up and take down.

However, perhaps the juice is not worth the squeeze on this? If the cost of a new mast is more that the value of the boat, perhaps not a good way to spend money. Assuming I would probably have to replace all the standing rigging and boom as well if I had a new mast?

Appreciate any thoughts on this logic. Maybe the stress of raising/lowering is fractional compared to the stress of just sailing it anyhow so I shouldn't stress about it myself?

Thanks!

-Peter

 

[Loren Beach]

I have no idea of the actual weight of your rig, but extruded aluminum spars were probably pretty standardized when your boat was built. The weight per foot is the key measurement. Yours was the second version of the E- 23.
While it's certainly possible to source a new lightweight spar, like carbon fiber for instance, the cost might be at or above 10K. No big deal if you have the money and this sort of experimenting is your hobby.
Before extreme measures like that, we'd need to see how you are presently raising the mast.
(I have a lot of experience raising/lowering the rig on my Ranger 20, and also a couple of times on our previous Niagara 26. The later boat had a 34 foot spar, non tapered. With the pivoting tabernacle and side guide lines it was not too hard to deal with. The spinnaker pole was used as a Gin Pole, with the lowering line led aft to a primary winch. Definitely a two person job, but not too hard -- just be methodical and mind the lines supporting it on the way up or down.

 

[bigd14]

Ericson Document - E23 Hinged Mast Instructions

E23 hanged mast instructions and diagram - excerpt from 1976 Owners Manual? ---------------------------------------- Thank you for your interest in downloading this document from the www.EricsonYachts.org Resource Center. We hope you find it...

ericsonyachts.org

I had a Ranger 22 with a tabernacled mast and yeah it was super heavy and unwieldy probably similar to the E23.

 

[G Kiba]

Maybe you could source a used mast from a J24, Moore 24, or Santa Cruz 27?

 

[Christian Williams]

I like "the juice is not worth the squeeze," and to my mind it applies.

 

[Peter34]

It's interesting, my mast is oval 6.5" x 3.25" and 29 ft long. It has space for four halyards (2 fore, 2 aft). It honestly feels like it easily is over 200 lbs. Looking at the weight/ft of extruded aluminum at sites that sell/make masts the published weights are from 1.5 -2.2 lb/ft or so which should get you a mast well under 80 lbs +/- accoutrements. I use a roller furling jib so don't really need more than 2 halyards (maybe 3 if I get courageous enough to fly the spinnaker). Maybe just a skinnier mast . .?

Also, curious on question of stress on chain plates when raising the mast (winched up using boom guys and halyard run over the boom in vertical position). When sailing up wind on close haul am I putting more stress on those chain plates anyhow? Is this all just in my head?

Thanks for everyone's response.

 

[Loren Beach]

Also, curious on question of stress on chain plates when raising the mast (winched up using boom guys and halyard run over the boom in vertical position). When sailing up wind on close haul am I putting more stress on those chain plates anyhow? Is this all just in my head?

Given that your boat was designed by Bruce King, a well-credentialed naval architect, and intended for coastal cruising as well as racing, my surmise is that the whole "rigging gang" (as defined by the late Brion Toss) was well calculated for the loads.
Brion described the whole "circle" of rigging stress, from masthead, to shroud base, thence down and inward to mast or mast support, and finally back up to the masthead. A good design allows for all parts of the circle to achieve equal strength with ample reserves.

I have read a rumor that the E-23-2 may have shared a mast section with the 70's E-25, so the spar might be a bit heavier than a minimum calculation might call for. I do not have any first hand information about that, tho.

Note also that your boat was not designed by an amateur or a marketing group like a lot of other really light trailer sailors in the 70's, either. it was, in key respects, the smallest Yacht from a builder of offshore-capable racer-cruisers with the upper size limit at the time of 46 feet. This was reflected in deck gear and interior wood fitment, also.

Matter of fact, being built to the Ericson "standard" forced a higher retail price and limited its market appeal against the racing/day-sailing J-24. Your boat has, within he limits of sitting headroom, a real cruising-capable interior for a young couple or a single hander.
Yup, that's an opinion worth 2 cents during holiday discounts. Worse, this from a guy and his wife who overnighted a lot in a Ranger 20, over 40 years ago when we were, um... young and agile.

 

[jtsai]

The dimensions you posted fall between RigRite #7 and RigRite #6040 which are for 26' to 30' boats. You should also compare the wall thickness. See RigRite page below. I would say Ericson was conservative on the design.

Rig-Rite Masts Page

I owned a Precision 23 for a few years and day-sailed at the local lakes. Raising the mast was not fun even with the gin pole, side-stays, and brake winch setup. There was so much tension and without any backup system. Take your time and take some practice to be comfortable.

 

[Chschaus]

I have a mast from my old San Juan 24 free for the taking

 

[Peter34]

Another thought I had was putting a winch on my truck. Then when I get to the boat launch, pull the truck up to the right spot just aft of the stern and connect the truck winch. It could function either as the primary puller or the back up (with a helper just taking up slack). angle seems like it would probably be just about right if you nosed the truck up aft of the stern. Wonder if anyone has tried that?

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Peter,
This is sort of a side issue, but I'm curious about the other logistics around how you use the boat. Do you have to trailer and raise the rig every time you use the boat? Can you anchor someplace near the launch site if you want to use the boat consecutively for several days? I had a Catalina 22 years ago, but kept it on a mooring ball. Rigging was at least a 1.5 hour process, only doing it twice a year. Your mast quest seemed kind of extreme at first but I'm beginning to understand why you'd want to ease launching as much as possible.
Jeff

 

[Peter34]

Peter,
This is sort of a side issue, but I'm curious about the other logistics around how you use the boat. Do you have to trailer and raise the rig every time you use the boat? Can you anchor someplace near the launch site if you want to use the boat consecutively for several days? I had a Catalina 22 years ago, but kept it on a mooring ball. Rigging was at least a 1.5 hour process, only doing it twice a year. Your mast quest seemed kind of extreme at first but I'm beginning to understand why you'd want to ease launching as much as possible.
Jeff

Yes, last summer I had it in a slip the whole summer and it was great. Thinking it would be fun to travel with it a little though. That said, this was sort of not really built as a trailer sailor to the degree that the cat 22 was. With the trailer its over 4,000 lb to tow. The mast, as Loren pointed out, is the mast specked for the 25 ft boat so it is really a bit unwieldy. Probably best to just plan to try and have it slipped again for the summer and not stress about it.

 

[ConchyDug]

Gin pole it my dude. I've used gin poles on 40-50 carbon rigs no problem, it's wayyy safer and controlled.

If you want examples I can dig up some info.

Hinging a mast is sketchy, catamaran guys have it figured out if you want better examples on how to do it safely.

Also brass rigging bits probably aren't a great idea when lifting a mast.

 

[Nick J]

Ericson has a guide on how to do it for the 25. I didn't use it when we had our 25+, but it looks good in theory and doesn't use any additional equipment other than two stays from the chain plates to the end of the boom. there's one on the 23 as well, but it doesn't use inline stays, so I'm wondering how it would work in practice. Here's the link to the 25 document in the resources section:

Ericson Document - E25 Mast Raising Instructions

E25 Mast Raising Instructions ---------------------------------------- Thank you for your interest in downloading this document from the www.EricsonYachts.org Resource Center. We hope you find it useful in the on-going maintenance and care of...

ericsonyachts.org

Can anyone comment on how well this process worked for them?

 

[klb67pgh]

Do you have a deck-stepped mast with a tabernacle? Or keel stepped? Not sure what the options were for an E-23. Your mast step might be different than mine. Look at some of the E-25 mast raising posts on here. I have at least 1. If you have a tabernacle like the E25 and use the main sheet and mast winch to raise and lower the mast, there is little to no strain on the chain plates.

I have moved my mast myself to saw horses. I'd guess it's 120 lbs max.

I also read somewhere that the mast profile for the E 23 E 25 and E 27 are the same. That might have been just for ease of parts supply and render the mast profile overkill for the E 23. I'm not sure how you would make that determination. If you want to try to lighten the mast, I'd try to talk to a company like Selden.

 

[gabriel]

theE23 uses the same 6.5 x 3.25 oval mast section as the E25 and it is a pretty heavy mast section even for a 25 footer!

I don’t know what technique you’re using to raise your mast, but there shouldn’t be much stress on the chainplates while raising. I raise the mast on my E25 completely alone without much physical effort.

As far as changing spar. Should the boat have had a lighter mass section? Probally. Is it worth the time and expense to remedy it? Probably not.