A-Class: Dna mast now built by Fiberfoam
The feedback I gave PJ when the first DNAs arrived here was the finish quality of their inhouse built masts. Same comments I made with Olympic Nacra 17 first inhouse batch.
Mast at this level need to be made specialists, so kudos to PJ to outsource their Mast production with Scott Anderson / Fiberfoam.
Details PJ on 2015 Dna mas below:
“The tapered DNA masts are nowadays produced exclusively for DNA by Fiberfoam. Fiberfoam continues to offer their #14 mast (untapered).
We developed the tapered DNA mast in 2012, and it is a different section than the commonly used 145×60 mm untapered section.
The base idea was to create a mast which follows the twisted sail shape in a more natural way.
The result is a top tapered mast, but the shape also varies over the length of the mast, I hope that below illustration shows the principle.
The section is tapered from approx 160×60 mm in the bottom to 130×45 mm in the top. The mast base shape is identical to the common 145×60 mm section for the ease of interchanging parts. The surface area is also identical, to avoid sail area problems when sails which are made for standard masts are used.
We believe this tapered mast has a better aerodynamic shape compared to the standard section, this results in less drag, better flow attachment and better performance. It did take quite some time to develop our mast and to make it reliable and well-performing. However now that is sorted, especially when sailing at close angles, as happens with high apparent wind speeds, this mast is superior.
The angle before losing flow is definitely smaller the standard section, which is great when you need to point high, or want to have a super flat sail in flat water high wind conditions .
All bend specs are available, and the mast curve is slightly more progressive than the others which is what you may want.
Give me a call, or drop me a message at [email protected] for more info.”
Cheers, PJ
Why hadn't the top guys at Bordeaux or at Aus Nats used DNA masts if they have a clear advantage over fiberfoams 14th?