Advice needed to mount and transport a 30 foot A class carbon mast on a 27 foot long motorhome. I could raise the trailer front mast support to clear the RV roof but that will put the mast tip pretty close to the 4 metre local bridge heights and still mean plenty of rear overhang off the trailer which can attract unwanted police attention. Can anyone offer ideas on off the shelf racks or secure clamps I can purchase or fabricate?

Not sure about commercially available holders, but that would be a very simple DIY project. Get some lumber, cut notches, and screw to the roof.

Of course, every screw in the roof of an RV is the next potential leak, so be careful.

If you're concerned about using wood (rot), I'm sure you can find something along the lines of a Thule rack.

Hope this helps.

Mike

I've done all sorts of stuff there. Have you thought about a 2 or 3 foot hitch extension to move the trailer further back to allow room for the mast?

I've welded up and mounted steel mounts to the roof of my past RVs (wrapped the arms in rope to provide some padding). Cut small access holes in the ceiling skin to tighten the nuts and used milk jug caps to fill fill the ceiling holes lightly siliconed in place. Use plenty of 3M 5200 under the brackets outside if going this route. It's a bit of a pain heaving the mast up and down and also consider how the spreaders will stick out when considering other roof mounted objects and the outside perimeter of the RV (having the spreaders extend past the wall of the RV is probably not a great idea).

The best solution I came up with was to extend the tongue of my trailer. I added something like 6 or 8 feet and put in a new set of bracing on the sides of the main tongue member. It took a bit of work but it made everything super easy and avoided climbing up on the roof in the rain and so forth.

I know it causes turbulence and some stress, but if it was mounted diagonally it wouldn't hang off the end.

As Jake mentioned, by far, keeping it on the trailer is the best option.

I love these discussions, not only for creativity, but for bringing up great memories...

Coolest thing I've ever seen was the TWO Hobie 17s (and masts) that came across the country atop ONE RV to a North Americans in Syracuse.

Mike

How about hanging it from the side of the RV? Something similar to garage ladder racks. I would guess an A cat mast probably weighs about 20lbs, so not much weight.

sm

Yeah, but the general life and abuse of an RV (getting stuck in tight places and so forth) will see it rub an occasional tree. The mast would be pretty exposed to potential damage hanging on the side.

Jake is right. After a lot of mucking around trying various ideas the simplest solution is lifting the front mast support. Got some 40mm box section, welding a flat bar to the top and then bash it into a V and hope my amateurish welds hold.

I think Jake meant to make the tongue (not mast support) longer. Not sure how much length you'll save just by changing the angle?

One advantage of that approach, though, is to keep the mast away from the rear window. More than one cat sailor has poked a mast through the rear RV window...

Mike

You have to also be careful not to raise it to the point that the other end gets too low to the road surface.

I did...the tongue extension - not raising the mast higher. You'll have a hard time getting it high enough to clear the back of an RV without putting the mast support at risk of a structural failure or putting the back of the mast so low that it hits the ground going up sudden inclines (like some gas station entrances).

I replaced the tongue section on my trailer also around 2' longer to make the mast fit better. I did have a 2x2" hitch extension that worked fine, but i got tired of taking it out and it could drag with the long rv tail. I also added a few feet to the back of another trailer and then slid the axle back some to balance (not much weight on the back of the boat).