No reason why an easy rig can't have a wing mast. I tried it and it works well. The jib has to be a little smaller if the mast rotation point is moved aft, but this is a benefit.
It seems from discussions in the group that a wing mast is considered
to be a better performer than the easy rig, but I can't seem to locate
any messages that give specifics on the calculations behind that
decision. Does anyone have those at their fingertips?
My calculations for the speer partial wing mast gives a chord of 30%
of the desired foot of the sail area. For a 40' mast (to fit into a
shipping container), I am looking at a 35' luff and a 9' foot. This
would give a sail area of 35*9*0.8 = 252 sq ft. If I put a jib on it
with an easy rig configuration, I could add about 75 sq ft (5x30/2).
I think that a wing and an easy rig are mutually exclusive because the
wing mast has its center of effort further forward than a regular
mast, so I am back to my original question of how do I know the wing
mast is better than the larger sail area of an easy rig?
If I can toss in a second question, has there been any progress on a
two part mast?
- Gardner