Martin 242s Test New Canadian Masts
February 12, 2026
Sailing in Canada has a special affection for one-design fleets. Most of these fleets rely on older boats, many of which are equipped with now obsolete equipment. It falls on the fleets to find new suppliers to produce equivalent replacements that will maintain the one-design integrity of the fleet.
The Martin 242 Fleet is currently resolving the need for masts.
Our previous mast tube extruder (SAPA, California) and mast builder (Ballenger, also California) stopped helping us with both items four years ago so we have embarked on a big project to replace both.
Apex Aluminum in Langley, BC, is the new extruder, and Pro-Tech in North Vancouver is the new Builder. We are starting from scratch, hence the three test masts.
Also, because of limitations regarding the anodizing tank size at Apex (28′) we have to splice our masts (36’9″) just below the spreaders now. This is also a reason for testing test masts before we fully commit to the Production method in the Fall.
Pro-Tech (Stewart Jones & Team) is in the process of building three complete test masts, and we’ve lined up a few people to test them in March/April onwards.
We have expressions of interest to buy the three test masts at a reduced price from several people. Now we just have to build some really skookum test masts and then Production masts in the Fall and we are off to the races, so to speak…
