by John C. Harris on Fri Oct 28, 2011 9:45 am
"So John, can you tell me what the "load" is on the gaff??? Thanks."
Sure, it's 2.075 quasi-joules. You can plug that number into any of the sailboat gaff-design software packages and it'll generate the design. I think there's an iPhone app for that.
Kidding! kidding!
There's lots and lots of load on a PocketShip gaff, which is why it's rather heavy rendered in wood. As I've written here before, I've a mind to experiment with a lighter one. Eliminating the stainless T-track on the gaff and substituting a shipshape lashing of some sort would probably produce a noticeable improvement. I was going to go one step further and build a hollow wooden gaff. Thin-walled, with the carbon on the inside so it's still varnished wood on the outside to look pretty at shows. I actually made some sketches of how to do this, but I've been too busy to follow up on it. The drawings are too sketchy to be of much use to anyone not residing inside my cobwebby brain, alas.
I don't mean to be glib but someone with sufficient technical proficiency to execute a carbon gaff could probably eyeball the published scantlings of the wooden gaff and hack a carbon substitute without much drama. Remember the performance sailor's rule: if a spar never breaks, you've built it too heavy.
Having just finished building the 31-foot carbon mast for Madness-the-proa, I can report that A) I hate carbon fiber more than ever and B) it really is hellish tricky to work with.