Hi all, I'm in the windy state of North Dakota, USA and building my second rig. I've been looking at all of the designs on this forum and I am impressed. I'm making my version of a mini sailer. I'm to the point of attaching the mast step but wonder at what angle. I still don't have a mast and sail yet since I'm about as far from open water as one can be. Perhaps I should wait until I acquire a mast or build one. I've attached a few pics so the pros can give me some advice or pick it apart.
The bigger one with the beautiful wooden seat is my original from 17 years ago. It works surprisingly well.

I've chopped up my old yellow rig and trying to make improvements. Lower seated position. less length. less weight. Just trying to figure out the steering without being able to try it first. I liked my old foot pedals but they were a bit bulky.

I think I've finished my steering. It worked well rolling down the driveway with my wife pushing me! Wish I had a pic of that.

That will work fine but you should flare the top end of the tube so the mast does not press against a sharp edge.

As per the image below

I do love the musical fruit but the wind is mostly because we have very few trees up here on the plains.
My next question; how tall should the mast step be? I suppose the minimum height is the important measurement. I hope the get the step welded on this afternoon and place the mast and sail to get a look at her as a whole. I also found a pic of my old yellow rig before I chopped her up. The sail looks quite small compared to the windsurf sails I have now.

You are on to it you can extend the top of the mast with a tube Some have used vacuum cleaner tube!
I have used thinwall alum tube successfully

I should explain that the places I will be able to sail are large parking lots and maybe some grassy fields so I'm thinking I will need more power than top speed. I am envious of those large dry lake beds and salt flats I see on this forum.

Having spent a fair bit of time recently sorting out uncut windsurfer sails I must say your ratchet strap is a very cool solution and should work just fine. One reason your pulling so much tension may be that the mast doesn't match the sail. Its clear that your mast is much longer than the sail and therefore stiffer. If you used a shorter softer mast you wouldn't need as much tension. But hey if it works then do it. If you rip the sail in half then try a softer mast next time.

As Hiko said attach your boom to the tack then downhaul the boom would work or you could just connect the boom to the tack eyelet that way it might move a bit easier.

One concern with what I see is the fact that your downhaul is some distance behind the mast may make it slower to dum wind when you ease the sheet rope but that will vary depending on the sail and downhaul tension. Might not be an issue, practice will tell.

Boom and clew question: In the pic, would an outhaul line like the yellow line work without adding the extra clew material (the orange area)? or do I need to add the extra clew area and use an outhaul line like the green line?

Sorry to keep asking all these questions. I tried to set my 5.0 sail and it doesn't seem right. I cranked the hell out of the ratchet strap and there still are alot of waves compared to my 4.4 orange sail. Maybe the flexibility of my mast is too far off? I don't know what the numbers on my mast mean as far as flex. I will be picking up a couple more sails and 3 masts this weekend so maybe one of them will work better.

Windsurf masts and sails have rating numbers so they can be matched up and are usually marked
If your mast has no markings there are ways to find out what the stiffness numbers are by doing simple weight tests
On the net there are postings with all the info you need which is an advantage to using standard windsurf
gear

^^^^ this... outhauling the sail will cause the mast to conform to the sail. cheers!

A MODERN windsurfer sail and mast does NOT need outhaul to shape/set the sail.
It does need outhaul to set the cams (if cammed) If your using modern gear look up a somthing like the Unifiber mast selector to determin what type of mast to use with what type of sail. Then use the correct length mast for said sail.
www.unifiber.net/masts-selector

But I wouln't wory about any of that **** unless your looking for high end performance.

Your mast and sail are not modern, looked like a bit of outhaul might have helped but dont wory too much yet. As you say your learning, just get it looking sort of right then go and sail.

GIZMO, have a look at my Avatar pic, there is effectivly no outhaul on when the pic was taken.

I have seen sails that have no outhaul at all just a loop around the boom
I think the lower batten does all the outhaul necessary

Come on guys please show how you can get a variable draft sail without the use of an outhaul?
I'm sure there a lot of people on the forum would like to know how.
Rather than making flippant remarks.

Land yachts sails are quite different than water yacht sails, Land yachts make a far greater use of apparent wind than sailboards and other water yachts do. So if you are sailing with a 'fixed' draft sail you are doing yourself a disservice.

So unless wind / air movement and the physics of sailing has substantially changed the extensive research I have done over many years would still be current.
Yes altho I haven't been involved in high performance sailboarding for many years I still have an interest in the sport.

Oh by the way one of my kids has a Double Uni Degree in Aeronautics & Design / Management and currently doing a Masters degree in Engineering, and currently employed by one of the world big companies in this area. (which is really good when you need some numbers crunched or designs checked)