Replace mast?
I'm currently looking at a Swan 44 that I'm considering buying with the original Nautor mast. A friend of mine who himself has a Nicholson 45 of similar vintage makes the point that if the boat needs the standing rigging replaced (and I think it does) then on that age of boat it probably makes sense to replace the entire rig, as a 40-year old aluminium mast will have fallen prey to quite a bit of corrosion. But reading this forum I see quite a few people clearly going to a lot of trouble to repair their masts. Is the general opinion that it's preferable to work with the original mast, even if this means substantial repairs?

Josh.

I'm currently looking at a Swan 44 that I'm considering buying with the original Nautor mast. A friend of mine who himself has a Nicholson 45 of similar vintage makes the point that if the boat needs the standing rigging replaced (and I think it does) then on that age of boat it probably makes sense to replace the entire rig, as a 40-year old aluminium mast will have fallen prey to quite a bit of corrosion. But reading this forum I see quite a few people clearly going to a lot of trouble to repair their masts. Is the general opinion that it's preferable to work with the original mast, even if this means substantial repairs? Josh.

Josh:

One man's opinion only - but I would say you can and should approach this like any other equipment decision, meaning - figure the costs and benefits of each path. I recently bought 411 #41. The previous owner had lavished a lot of care, and had done a fair amount of work on the mast, fully reconditioning it, painting it, running new wiring, a new track, etc. BUT he did not do the standing rigging, and it needed to be done. When I went to replace the standing rigging, now owning the boat, I found that it was a little tricky but do-able to get the pieces set up to mate with the mast fittings and spreader end fittings as they were from 1978. So, in my case, since there was little else to do, no big corrosion problem, I didn't even think about a new mast. In terms of just dollars, you would have to have a pretty badly beat up mast to justify a new one, especially carbon. The flip side of the coin is old school vs new school -the old masts are heavy sections, built to take it, and carry lots of margin. That means weight. You could substantially lighten the rig with a new mast, but if that is your goal, why buy an older Swan? There are plenty of newer boats out there that would fit the bill for lighter and faster. But to me, what makes these boats special is what I wanted -total class, top shelf quality, and able to take any seas. Plus. even though heavier, not too shabby under sail - fast enough when sailed well. I wish you the best...

Geoff
Corazon, 411 #41

Dear Josh,

Geoff's words are pearl of wisdom, I completely overhauled mine a few years ago (38/067 and you can see what has been done on the "maintenance" page), found some corrosion problem, fixed it, but did not change it. Not speaking of money, as I think you could not go for a commercial mast for a Swan, I mean would you get a Sparcraft or similar mast as they do on Jeanneau's...don't think so! so you should have a very high quality mast, really expensive too, but are you shure to find someone who could build, nowdays, such an incredible well built piece of hardware as Nautor Mast are (were)...?

I don't think so.

Overhaut it, get ther repair if needed, but if it is not broken in two pieces (unlikely), keep it, it's probably going to stay there for another forty years.

Fair winds

Matteo (38/067 Only You)

Hi Josh, I replaced he mast of my 48 four years ago when I bought the boat. The mast I replaced was the original swan mast and had some signs of corrosion and a crack close to the goose neck. I had an interesting quote from a very well know UK rigger to restore the old one but at the end I decided in favour of a new one. I understand and agree with the idea of keeping our boats as much as possible close to the original but I also think that if you want or are thinking or replacing something it is better to have a look at what new technologies are giving us nowadays . Would you replace your engine with the same type/model/hp of the original one? I don't think so . You will probably upgrade your engine with something more efficient and powerful.
Of course I am talking from a saling point of view but if your purpose is mainly to refit your boat as she was 30 year ago it is a different story .
I decided to replace mine for some reasons: SAFETY FIRST: I mainly sail with my family ( two young children) and I want to sleep well when someone else is on watch. EFFICIENCY : a new mast ( standard aluminium ) is lighter ( a lot , lot lighter ) but has a stronger inertia moment which on our heavy boats it is what we need the most. COST at the end the difference in cost is not too much but you end up with something newer.
To make mine as close as possible to an old swan one I decided to buy the alluminium pole from z-spar but to have it rigged from all-spars (Lymington) .
If you want don't hesitate to write me an email to have further info/details on the entire operation
fair winds Sergio. Clarion of Skye 042/48

Geoff, Matteo, Sergio, many thanks for your very helpful thoughts on this. I will keep you updated (if I buy the boat).

Fair winds,

Josh.

Hi Josh, I have a 1972 Swan 40 (29/40) a bit older than yours but I am sure built of similar good quality materials, we bought ours in very poor condition after being raced hard, sailed around the world and then abandoned in a field, however we are now about 95% the way through a restoration and enjoying her immensely.

We replaced our mast with a Selden double spreader version as the original one on inspection had some quite bad bits of corrosion, we even spent about £600 with a rigger who was fashioning plates etc to repair it when one day once I found yet more corrosion I thought to my self “do I really want to caught out off shore with this rig?”, we were already spending quite a bit of cash on new rigging, sails, furler etc and the thought of loosing all this as well made my mind up.

Other factors were that our insurance company weren’t keen on the old mast and if pushed probably wouldn’t have insured it. I would have liked to have kept the old mast but in the end it was the correct decision for us as when we were cutting up the old one for scrap it cracked straight through under its own weight due to fatigue. A sobering thought!

If you are in the UK and you would like some more information on who did our mast, costs etc then please drop me a line.

Best Wishes and Good Luck

Jason
Can-Can IV