Major Wood

Here is the follow-up to the Lotta Wood story we did last week. Amazing technology that is all but forgotten. Enjoy.

I had built the sawmill in Alaska specifically for long length Sitka Spruce for mast and spars for classic yachts. For Cambria the Sitka Spruce logs were specially selected as it was required to have 40 ft long clear aircraft grade lumber. They were vacuum dried on site in Alaska, the spruce was then towed down on a barge to Seattle, traveled by train to New York and shipped across the Atlantic from there. In Holland TNO Delft, the institute for applied scientific research was involved in testing the individual boards using advanced stress wave technology and finally the best of the best were selected. The quality of the top boards was so amazing that we named the individual boards for Cambria; Beyoncé, Tyra, Brigitte, Anna, Diana and so on…

The 12 metre long boards were then shipped to la Ciotat, France where Alex Laird of Classic Works had a group of dedicated craftsman lined up to take on the challenge to build this immense spar. Following authentic designs, the lay-out of the spar was made by Aurilien Lebas, the yard’s naval architect. 50 metre long press table was built and over 200 special clamps were manufactured for the job. First the 12 metre long pieces had to be scarfed up to almost 50 metre length which required 192 scarf joints. The enormous boards were then planed with thickness and width. The mast is constructed hollow and so each piece had to be laminated in to a huge box configuration, consuming some 320kg of glue. The new spreaders where made in quarter sawn ash, the longest spreaders over 3 metre in length. Cambria’s Australian captain, Chris Barkham was closely involved in every step of the project. The passion and dedication to Cambria bonded the team and resulted in a really special spar for what is arguably the most beautiful large sloop in the world.

The mast will be stepped in about 6 weeks and will give your readers an update then should you wish.

Best,
John Lamments
LVB Wood Processing

03/28/06