Cutting your support down from six feet to three feet (for example -- not exact) is roughly going to double the force on the bearings. 

  As with the rudder stocks, this can be designed for.  However, that's going to require a heavier mast beefier lw hull, new engineering design, and so forth, and may not be worth the cost and weight penalties.

  How about a two-part mast or Rob's telescoping mast?  I've got a two-part carbon fiber mast on a much smaller boat, and I have to say that I love the design.  I'm less sure about the telescoping mast.  I can see the benefits, especially if racing single-handed, but worry about its longevity in the elements.  But I'm always open to new ideas, and look forward to seeing it implemented.

  There's no reason why your masts have to be restricted to 39' just because of the container length.

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  I like the way you dealt with handling the width of the cockpit.  I've been thinking about a removable cockpit that would allow the two hulls to get closer together, but this is more elegant.  How would you protect those singles in the leeward hull from weather?  Some sort of pram?


       - Mike



Gardner Pomper wrote:

It seems as soon as I finish one layout idea and post it, another pops up. If I assume that my mast will be 39' or less, how much height in the lw hull is required to support them? It occurs to me that I could make the lw hull smaller and lower and the ww hull deck wider and slide right over the top of the lw hull if I could get away with about 3' of support for the masts. Is that enough?

- Gardner

On