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Mast Forestay / vhf antenna mount?
http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=34555		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  JollyGreen [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Mast Forestay / vhf antenna mount?
This is more just for entertainment value, but I'm interested in attempting to mount a vhf antenna on the AI/TI somewhere. It would be nice if I could get it as high as possible. One way that came to mind was adding a forestay and mounting it on that.

Anyone had any luck creating a "mast cap" that would allow a forestay to connect and still allow the sail to furl?

Any other ideas?
Author:  fusioneng [ Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:54 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mast Forestay / vhf antenna mount?
JollyGreen:
The furling mast cap I designed for my TI is outlined pretty good on this forum post Ultimate Tandem Island ( viewtopic.php?f=69&t=33720) the whole works cost under $10 dollars and works great.
Hope this helps
Bob
Author:  JollyGreen [ Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Mast Forestay / vhf antenna mount?
fusioneng wrote:
JollyGreen:
The furling mast cap I designed for my TI is outlined pretty good on this forum post Ultimate Tandem Island ( viewtopic.php?f=69&t=33720) the whole works cost under $10 dollars and works great.
Hope this helps
Bob


All I can say is WOW :o, and bravo! That will probably work perfectly for what I want to do. I haven't read the whole post yet, but does this setup increase the speed because of less flex in the mast?
Author:  fusioneng [ Thu Mar 24, 2011 7:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Mast Forestay / vhf antenna mount?
JollyGreen:
Actually the strengthened mast is a big curse in heavier winds (you have to furl much earlier), but upwind performance is improved quite a bit, in low winds (~4-8mph) I can sail almost directly into the wind, what I do is pull the sails really tight and pedal lightly, the vacuum created in front of the sails by the apparent wind propels me along at 3 or 4 mph directly into the wind, with no sails and just pedaling I would be doing maybe 1 or 2 mph at best. Even with no wind at all I usually put the sails up to travel, the sails seem to work like an amplifier of some sort, I can't explain it, and don't fully understand why or how it works completely myself, but it's pretty cool. I did everything to improve the low wind performance of the boat which is more typical in my area (5-8 mph winds most of the time). Be very careful strengthening the mast as you can easily exceed the intended design of the mast base mounting and it could (will)break, and the AMA's will no longer prevent the boat from capsizing in heavier winds. There was a reason they designed the mast to flex in heavier winds (to spill excess wind). Bottom line is, if the winds are too heavy ( > 18mph), I tend to stay home, it's just not very fun for me in rough seas.
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