Mast height to sail

Question
Hi Windlover,

In followup to this thread:

http://www.allexperts.com/user.cgi?m=6&catID=2074&expID=47481&qID=4967601


I put the mast in the sail and pushed it to the top.

From the bottom of the sail to the bottom of the HiFly mast is 27".

From the bottom of the mast to the center of the sail pocket where the boom attaches is 74 inches.

Looking at mast extensions, it looks like even the short ones add a few more inches to those numbers.

My concern is that it will be too high (especially the boom).

Eye level for me is 64".

Am I going to need to cut off the mast or what?

Thanks in advance as usual!

Charles

Answer
Hey Charles,

It sounds like your mast is just a bit long for your sail. Based on that, you would only need a short extension. When you are doing your measurements, are you downhauling the sail or it is just on the mast with no tension? If you have no tension on the sail, the sail boom pocket should come down about 4-6" which would make your boom about right or just a touch high. Which is okay for the type sailing you will be doing.

The one thing you DO NOT want to do is cut of the mast. The bottom of the mast is reinforced to allow extensions to be inserted. Cutting the mast will reduce the amount of reinforcement and could cause cracking or breaking of the bottom of the mast.

Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover