What a Marine Surveyor Needs to Know About Yacht Spars eBook

A spar is a pole of wood, metal, or lightweight materials such as carbon fibre used in the rigging of a sailing vessel to carry or support its sail. These include yards, booms, and masts, which serve both to deploy sail and resist compressive and bending forces, as well as the bowsprit and spinnaker pole. Source: Wikipedia

Traditionally yacht masts and spars were hollow or solid and built from wood, but they have significantly evolved in recent years:

• The first revolution in mast and spar manufacturing occurred around 1930 when for the first-time aluminium masts, instead of the traditional wooden masts, were used on the large J-class boats competing for the America’s Cup.
• Wooden masts and spars were “re-invented” using wood/epoxy in the late 1960s.
• The second revolution in mast manufacturing occurred around 1990 when the first carbon-fibre mast sand spars appeared on racing yachts.

Author Nicholas Parkyn puts his considerable experience in marine surveying and his specialist knowledge about rigs and masts to good use in this handy guide as he considers the latest yacht spar technology and the challenges spars present for marine surveyors.

The publication is 204 pages.