Mast Height

[Harry James]

There is a thread going on the Triton Yahoo list on mast height. Apparantly there is a differance btween WC/EC on this? I thought that I had read that all Triton masts were around 35' and I just measured mine and it came in at 35'1"(WC #144). Somebody stated that EC boats are closer to 37', is this so?

[dasein668]

There was a thread about mast heights a while ago. Try Here

[bcooke]

My understanding too is that the builders of the WC boats were varying the rig based on the intended sailing location which annoyed the Bristol group. This may be more rumor than fact but I am pretty sure there is more variance among WC rigs than their EC counterparts.

IMHO, the golden rule in Tritons is that there are no standards. They all vary somewhat from one another.

-Britton

[jollyboat]

The mast build spec for the Bristol, Rhode Island built masts was 36' 8". This did not include the mast head fitting or the mast base that the foot casting went into (if inlcuding these you can find the 37'+ measurement). On the subject of Tritons being a little different from one another - this is true as from time to time smaller changes were made here and there and then there were larger changes but most of these changes were in the interior finishing. Major changes of the Triton are the ballast internal/external, the headliner, and the slight increase of height in the later (last) productions of the boat. On a whole the basic boats were the same. (hulls, keel shape, rudders, engines, masts, booms, track length and position. The boats that were coming out of Rhode Island and more to the point Allied Grummond were on a much more ridged production schedule than the free wheeling group at Aerodyne Marine. (West coast) Once Arodyne was given permission to build and had a mold they took advantage of the 3000 mile gap that separated them from a non-existent 'big brother'.

[Harry James]

It appears that the WC mast is consistantly right at 35', the same as a EC MH rig.This is probably because of the greater winds in SF Bay. The other consistant differance other than the non cored decks and fiberglass coamings, is lighter scantlings. WC hulls appear to be quite a bit lighter except for the first few.

[Jfwtc]

I have been comming to the conclusion that the Aerodyne Marine gang (West coast) lightened the scantlings on there later boats. While not being able to comment on WC Tritons, the last of the Bounty II's, the ones finished by Palmer Johnson had lighter scantlings than discriptions I've read
about early examples "scantiongs as thick as a plank".

[jollyboat]

I can't say for sure about the methods or production schedules used by Arodyne Marine in their productions of the Triton. I do have the entire production schedule for the Triton's that were being built by Pearson Yachts in Bristol Rhode Island after Pearson was purchased by Grumman Allied. I have seen many west coast Triton's as I shipped my first Triton 346 out to San Francisco just so that I could sail with our westerly brotheren. The west coast Tritons (at least the several that I came across) were all different in one shape or another but a lot of this had to with the age of the boats and multiple 'owner upgrades'. I think that the degree of modifications that happens to sailing craft in the Bay area happens at a greater and faster rate than it does in the north east - (the westies can sail year round in wicked breeze.) but I digress - - -
Oh, I do know that Arodyne Marine had been working with and experimenting (along with the electric kool-aid acid tests) with what could and could not be done with fiberglass for a several years before they started building the Triton. I am pretty sure that group built the Rhodes Bounty before they got going on the Triton. - eitherway the west coast Triton's are a good sound boat - time has proven that alone.

[Harry James]

My WC Triton #144 is the tenth WC built if the number breakout is right and it is a ton lighter than the first WC boats. As I have mentioned earlier it weighed in at 7,000 on two different scales when I moved it north with engine, all standing and running riging, approximately 300lbs of anchors chain and rodes, 8 sails, 20-30 gals of water and a still unknown amount of fuel. Patience which is at the end of the WC Triton run weighed close to the same according to her owner.

[jollyboat]

Harry James - OK that is unheard of - I might go as far as to that I am a bit jealous. One of my pet peaves is excess weigth on my Tritons and I am always looking for weight to dump off the boat. I have not had my latest Triton 466 weighed as of yet but I hope that all of my efforts to reduce weight will be seen on the scale. How does your boat feel while sailing - do waves on the bow stop the boat or better does she feel lively and corky?

[Harry James]

Well the answer is "I don't know". I bought "Tales" WC 144 off a mooring in San Diego sight unseen except for photos that my son had taken for me. My son dropped the mast and got it ready for shipping, I had a hauler bring it to Bellingham WA where I linked it up with a trailer I had purchased, also sight unseen and put it on the AK State ferry in mid April for here in Juneau. I was able to get the bottom redone with its 9 layers of paint. I retired during the months of June and July. In spite of the worst summer in recorded wx history here I was able to get up to within three days of launching by the begining of August. By that time the incredible bad weather made me realize that it wasn't going to be worth it to launch for just a few weeks.

I have a date to put it undercover 1 Feb for 6 weeks to do the topsides and the deck if I can get it out of the yard through the snow. I plan on stripping everything off and rebedding also.

My biggest regret is it is cutter rigged like #17 and I realy wanted to test it out so I could make cahnges.

Next year will tell.