How Tall Are Sailboat Masts? 9 Examples

The mast height of a sailboat varies with every model.

So what determines the height of a mast?

Here’s How Tall Sailboat Masts Are:

As a general rule of thumb, the height of a boat’s mast will be somewhere between 1.25 to 1.35 times the boat’s length, for an average of about 1.3 times the length overall (LOA) of the boat. An aspect of 2.5 or lower will be a low-aspect rig; above that is considered a high-aspect ratio.

Understanding a Sailboat’s Mast and Rig

Sailboats are driven through the water by the power generated by their sails.

This is done using sail area. Sail area is calculated using the height of the mast and the length of the boom.

The battens, long strips of wood inserts in the sail, allow more sail area as they extend beyond a straight line from the head of the mast to the back of the boom, thus allowing more cloth to be carried.

Keep in mind that the mast height does not equal the luff length of the main; there is a distance between the deck and the top of the boom.

Most mains do not go all the way to the top of the boom mast.

Wind Gradient:

Designers are also aware of the wind gradient, meaning that as the wind blows over the water, the surface causes drag.

So the breeze is stronger the higher you get off of the surface.

Taller masts allow you to reach these stronger winds.

Mast Height:

While mast height is a prime determinant in the area, it is also possible to make a mast too tall so that the boat is always in danger of taking a knockdown.

Note there are some performance boats designed with masts that are too tall for the craft’s weight, assuming that the weight of the crew will balance out the sail area.

One thing to bear in mind here is a rig’s aspect ratio: this is determined by dividing the designed sail’s luff length by the length of the foot. An aspect of 2.5 or lower will be a low-aspect rig; above that is considered a high-aspect ratio.

Higher aspect boats perform better upwind; lower aspect ratios generally are more powerful in other wind conditions and are usually easier to control.

What’s the Average Height of Sailboat Masts?

Sailboats can range from 6 feet to a hundred or more feet in length if you throw out the multi-masted sailing ships of old.

The mast height for every single one is different.

The height of a mast is usually carefully calculated by figuring the amount of power needed to move a certain hull shape and weight through the water. In many cases, in the 1960s through the 1980s, some designers went by feel.

A few boatbuilders would use the same mast across several of their models to save money in some cases.

As a general rule of thumb, the height of a boat’s mast will be somewhere between 1.25 to 1.35 times the boat’s length, for an average of about 1.3 times the length overall (LOA) of the boat.

So, if you were going to average the mast heights of all 20-foot boats, you’d have about a 26-foot high mast and about 39 feet on 30-foot boats.

Boats built solely for cruising, particularly in offshore winds, will have shorter masts, and performance boats will have taller masts.

How do you Determine the Height of a Sailboat Mast?

Several factors determine a sailboat’s mast height.

A performance boat will have a higher aspect ratio for its sails and thus have a taller mast. Cruising boats will generally have smaller masts for the same length of the boat.

A wider and heavier boat than another boat will need more power to move it, so it will usually have a taller mast. If this heavy boat is a low-aspect-ratio rig designed for offshore work, it will probably have a comparably shorter mast for ease of handling in higher winds.

Conversely, a racing boat will be lighter but still have a taller mast to generate maximum power upwind.

Boats built for maximum performance will have very tall masts for their length and be very difficult to handle for an inexperienced crew – and sometimes for a trained, experienced crew as well, as the difficulties some of America’s Cup boats encounter demonstrate.

1. The Melges 24 is a performance racer with a mast height of 31.4 feet for a head-to-head comparison. Her mainsail’s luff length is 28.92 feet, and the foot is 12.45 feet; she is a high-aspect-ratio boat.
2. The Islander 24 has a mast height of 28.82, so it is 2 and 1/2 feet shorter than our Melges. The main’s luff length is 25.75 feet, and the foot is 11.52, for a low aspect ratio and much smaller main.
3. The Islander 24 weighs 4,200 pounds, while the Melges 24 weighs less than 1,800 pounds.

How Tall is the Mast on a 40 ft Sailboat?

If a yawl or other rig with multiple masts, it will have shorter masts than a sloop.

If the boat is a fractional rig with a small foretriangle, like a modern high-aspect-ratio Hunter, the mast will be taller than another sloop of the same length:

1. The old Tartan 40, an all-around great Sparkman & Stevens design from 1984, has a 51-foot mast. This is a classic racer/cruiser.
2. The Nordic 40, designed around the same time, has a 52-foot mast.
3. The Canadian-built C&C Crusader, designed in 1968, has a mast of 48 feet, but their later Mark 2 designs have masts of 53 to 55 feet in height.

These are all sloops. Ketch and yawl rigs will have masts shorter than this, as the smaller mizzens provide power (and helm balance).

So, this shows us that mast heights will fall into a range for any given length of the boat, again depending on other factors such as its function (primarily racing or cruising).

What is the Optimal Height of a Sailboat Mast?

As specified earlier, the designed height of a mast for any given sailboat generally falls between 1.25 and 1.35 times its length overall (as opposed to its waterline length).

The optimal height will be based on the designer’s calculations of the sail area and aspect ratio needed for the boat’s intended purpose. Beyond the simple racing/cruising divide, there are inshore and offshore cruisers and casual and serious racers.

Inshore cruising boats will generally be designed for maximum safety, and the mast height may be less than 1.25 times the length. Offshore cruisers may also be divided into casual and serious distance cruisers; a boat designed for better offshore cruising performance will have a taller mast.

It is unusual to find many cruising boats with a higher ratio than 1.3, however.

Racing boats will usually have a 1.35 ratio, though it can be as high as 1.5 or even higher at the extremes of the sport.

The mast height for America’s Cup AC50, a 50-foot catamaran, is 77 feet.

How Tall is the Tallest Sailboat Mast?

Two boats are currently competing for the title of having the world’s tallest mast.

Mirabella 5, now named M5 and launched in 2003, is the largest single-masted yacht ever built at 294 feet long.

Her mast is over 290 feet high.

The boom is nearly 90 feet in length. The mainsail has an area of 16,000 square feet! Her reacher (a large, light-weight genoa with some characteristics of a spinnaker), at 20,600 square feet, is the world’s largest sail.

The White Pearl, the world’s largest sailing yacht at nearly 350 feet, was launched in 2014. She has three carbon-fiber wing-style masts that are a little more than 90 meters high.

This puts the masts for the two yachts within a few feet of each other, though White Pearl gets the nod.

References:

Masts – Wikipedia

Sloops – Sailboat Cruising

World’s Tallest Carbon Fiber Masts