Mast identification

[Alistair Edwards]

I am trying to work out what kind of mast N 3143 Catatonic has (1981 Bob Hoare Tigress). There is no manufacturers name on the mast, but there is a Rowsell & Morrisson sticker. Did Rowsell & Morrisson make masts?
The boom is a Needlespar. so I guess it could be a Needlespar mast. It has an blue external sleeve on the section just below deck level.

[MattStiles]

Hi Alistair,
I always thought it was a Proctor, but thinking about it I'm not sure what evidence I had for that.  Sorry!
Hope you're still having fun sailing her

Matt

[johnk]

Has it a separate track for the luff groove? If so it is likely to be Needlespar. If the luff groove is part of the main extrusion, measure it's fore and aft and transverse dimensions. These could help identify which Proctor section or lead you to another manufacturer.

[Alistair Edwards]

Thanks for the replies. The luff groove is part of the main extrusion so I guess we can rule out Needlespar. I will do some measuring next time I get down to the dinghy park.

[Dave Croft]

Hi Alistair,
This boat used to owned by Ben Deverson at Twickenham, he would know what mast the boat had. Sorry I don't have his contact details but if he's not in the book his mum should be!
I would guess that it's almost certain to be a Proctor. The big dinghy chandlers suh as P&B often have mast dimensions listed in their catalogues but the problem is your mast might be discontinued (like the Proctor-alpha on my old boat).
Regards, Dave

[Alistair Edwards]

Thanks Dave. Everything seems to point towards Proctor. I noticed that Proctor make a blue deck level mast sleeve, and this looks the same as the sleeve on Catatonic.
Ben is really pleased that Catatonic is back at Twickenham. Before the Open meeting here in October he was telling me all about how fast his old 12 was. It was only when Matt turned up at Twickenham with Catatonic that I realised that it was Ben's old boat. I think it must have some kind of homing instinct.
As you may know Pip has just acquired a Tigress, and her other son Chris already races one at TYC, so the 12 class is enjoying a Tigress led revival at Twickenham.

[johnk]

I have an old Proctor Mast catalogue. If you e-mail me the longitudinal and transverse dimensions in mm, I will try and identify.

[Dave Croft]

Hi Alistair,
I didn't realise you were at Twickenham. I was a member there 25 year ago!! I am very local and thought that 12's had pretty much died out at TYC in the last couple of years. We were thinking of trying to get some mid-week evening sailing locally this summer and it was looking like the only option was going to be buying another Merlin. How many 12's are regularly sailing at TYC on wednesday evenings?
If you want to pop round sometime and look at my mast, you are welcome. It's a Proctor alpha, very popular in late 70's/early 80's.
Sorry to use the forum for chit chat but your e-mail isn't posted here.
regards,
Dave
 

[Alistair Edwards]

David
The TYC N12 fleet has recovered from a low point of 2 boats to 5. With a bit of luck this revival will encourage a few more people to base their 12s at TYC. I am hoping that this year a typical Wednesday evening race will include 3 or 4 12s plus of course the Enterprises and Solos. Our first Wednesday evening race is on May 7.
 
You might also enjoy the Lifeboat Week pursuit racing which runs each evening from July 14 to 18.
Hopefully once I have measured the mast we will be able to identify it using johnk's old Proctor catalogue.

[Alistair Edwards]

OK. Finally managed to do the mast measuring. The dimensions are approximately 56mm wide by 63mm (front to back).

[Lukepiewalker]

Sounds like a proctor C, according to the dimensions on their website.

[johnk]

The dimensions of mast sections in my 1976 Proctor catalogue are (fore and aft first) in mm
B       69  63
C       65  54
D        73  57
E        70  54
F        78  60
Alpha  63  53
Beta   66  56

The Alpha minus has a wall thickness of 1.53 mm, the plus  2.10 mm
The Beta  minus has a wall thickness of 1.70 mm, the plus 2.03 mm

Alistair's mast could therefore be a C or an Alpha. The Betas are stiffer than a D section so unlikely in a 12. I hope this is of some help.

[johnk]

Another point:- The halyards in the B, C, D sections often run inside the luff groove. In the Alpha / Beta, they run inside the main mast section. The luff groove in the Alpha / Beta is circular in section. In the B, C, D sections is triangular which gives space for a halyard to run in the luff groove.

[Alistair Edwards]

Thanks johnk. I will double check my measurements and see where the halyards run.

[man of many masts (Guest)]

My C(s) all had internal halyards, and along with the Kappas were one of the most common sections right up to the time we went plastic.