Mast Hoops

[classicboats turkiye]

For Blue Moon yawl I want to use mast hoops.
In order to reduce costs any one have some idea instead of wooden material?

[bob easton]

By "reduce cost," do you mean purchase cost, the cost of ready made hoops? If so, have you considered making your own? I just came across Greg Rossel's instructions for making mast hoops in his book "Building Small Boats," p242 - 244. Some white oak, a short length of PVC pipe, a strap of galvanized pipe hanging strap, a plywood base board, and a tea kettle are the basic ingredients. Probably a lot cheaper than ready made.

[Jim Ledger]

When you get close to launching a boat you'll spend more than the cost of mast hoops every day at Turkish equivalent of West Marine or Jamestown Distributors. Little bags of electrical fittings, cans of goop and masking tape and the like are where the real cost of boatbuilding lies.

Just pay the $100. for the hoops and consider them a bargain, which they are.

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

what Jim "The Legend" Ledger says is true. I get my mast hoops from Pert Lowell http://www.pertlowell.com/ definitely NOT cheep but very well made and IMHO worth it.

[Nanoose]

Nice source, Joe! Thanks. Ya got any others hidden aware in your arsenal?

[Joe ( Cold Spring on Hudson )]

I get em from our sponsors magazine ya might of heard of it. I'ts called, ummmmm now hold on it will come to me ...... ummmm OH yea WoodenBoat Magazine :D :D :D

Another one I use is for sails Gambell and Hunter Sailmakers http://www.gambellandhunter.com/

[GregW]

You want mast hoops? Have a look at this:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mrwizard/wkshps/shpnotes/hoops01.pdf (http://www-personal.umich.edu/%7Emrwizard/wkshps/shpnotes/hoops01.pdf)

[Jim Ledger]

Your bottom paint will cost more than the mast hoops.

[Jon Agne]

I bought 9 12" hoops for SURPRISE in 2000 from Ralph at Pert Lowell. The quality is superb. I finally managed to break one this year, but it was only because I rigged the outhaul tension on my gaff way too tight. The first time I raised the sail and peaked it up, I heard the crack and knew exactly what happened. OOPS!

Jim is right. This is money well spent. You can spend hours and hours making your own, and still not get it right. For those of us with day jobs, those hours spent on mast hoops go to all of the other jobs needed to care for a wooden boat.

[JBreeze]

a different opinion....

Are you building TWO boats as mentioned in a different thread? If so, and not having any idea of customs fees, transportation costs, etc., I would recommend making your own out of wood.

The sponsor gave a demo at the WB Show at Ft. Adams, in Newport a few years ago. Instead of steaming the wood, which if I recall correctly, was 1/4" thick strips, he had them soaking in a hot water tank. One end of the strip was tapered to a thin edge, and this edge was was applied to the form first (so it would be on the inside of the hoop).. For forms, circles of plywood were used.

Little kids were invited to the stage, where they rolled souvenier hoops to take home.

Again, I don't know the total number of hoops you need, but it shouldn't be hard to do if you can build a boat. Guess it always comes down to a comparison of your value of a couple hours vs. the cost of buying, and possibly having to import them.

I asked about red vs. white oak, and was told it didn't matter (this surprised me). Probably any kind of bending wood would work, as long as you soak it afterwards (BLO and turps?).

[ken connors]

For my mast hoops I took apart one of those car seat "massage" things that are made of a million little wood beads. I ran a thin ss cable thru a bunch of the beads to make the hoops. You can just dip them in varnish and hang to dry. They roll up the mast nicely.

[katiedobe]

Thanks for that tip Ken. I was wondering where I was going to get a bunch of wooden beads down here in Mexico for my top gaff. I only need five or six wooden balls. In the US I go to a hobby store but here in Bacalar no such thing exists. Now I know.
One car seat cover coming right up!!