Mast
is a tall metallic or timber pole erected almost vertically in a ship,
mainly used for supporting sails and rigging. It has been in use from
almost as back as sailing vessels. Ancient Mast
The oldest ancient sailboat had a single small mast carrying a single sail. In the middle ages ships a topmast was added to the single mast to carry more sails. During those days masts were made from wooden spars which were made from a single thick erect tree trunk. Subsequently desire for huge and speedy vessel were required. It brought increment in number of mast. Slowly and steadily as the size of ships increased, longer masts were constructed by adding up to three spars together.
Modern Mast
In 1930 aluminum masts were introduced. Aluminum has significant advantages over wooden masts. They are stronger, lighter, and can be constituted as a single piece for entire piece of mast. From mid 1900s carbon fiber and other composite materials were started to be used which provided better strength to weight ratio to the masts.
Sections of a Mast:
The different sections of a mast of a ship is named different from bottom to top.
- Fore mast: It is the first mast
located in the bottom part.
- Main mast: The tallest mast
installed near the center of the ship.
- Mizzen mast: It is the third
mast located just after the main mast. It is shorter than main mast.
- Jigger mast: It is the fourth and the smallest mast. Usually ships with more than three masts are very few in use.
- Masts used in a sail boat use only the highest quality materials
in its Hybrid Construction process.
- They offer excellent value in quality and durability.
- They are solid performing designed to fit different budgets and specifications.
