carbon spars

[nigelf]

Many thanks Dare and Phil. I expect all the usual fittings to be on the mast when I get it and I shall examine very closely how they are all attached. I gave away my Lazy Tongs riveter some years ago along with monel and aluminium rivets - perhaps just as well! I was at Burghfield recently looking at the newer boats but they were out on the water most of the time and my photographs are generally of hulls and hull fittings. I used a Hawk wind indicator for many years. I see only burgees now, much cheaper to replace and no doubt I shall find out in due course how they are being attached. Years ago the rules required you to lower your burgee if you were retiring which implies a halyard. I assume burgees today are in place on a clip (screwed?) to the mast top. Out on the water I gather the danger areas are gybing without tightening the lee shroud and bearing away onto a reach in a breeze with too much kicker. I can see I have a psychological and a technical hurdle to overcome but the prospect of such light weight in the spars is exciting, not to mention the huge reduction in hull weight. My previous N12 was ll49 (a Jack Holt 500 derivative), mahogany planking, nailed and ribbed, built just before the glued ply boats came along. I am now on the wrong side of elderly but very enthusiastic about the new Paradigm 2 and hoping that my fitness level is still up to it. Nigel.

[Jane Wade]

HI
My experience as a crew having broken both carbon and metal masts is that actually the carbon mast is more forgiving.  There are many times when I have looked up at the carbon rig and thought better not tell the helm but this is about to fall down and it hasn't and a couple of times when I have looked up at the rig and thought this is about to fall down and it has.  So fortunately the former far outweight the latter. 
The carbon boom is brilliant as it hurts your head far less when it hits you and it does have less impact on the gybe lessening the chances of a swim.
Jane
Crew of 3527 Snagglepuss  

[nigelf]

Many thanks for this reassurance, Jane. All the hard knocks are reserved for the crew - my wife/crew doesn't know that yet but I have told her that carbon is much less dramatic than aluminium but at 5ft. 7ins. she might get it in the neck both literally and metaphorically! N3535. Nigel.