26M Mast Blown Down

[Fxwg80hd]

Durning the wind storm Baltimore had on Dec 1st, (blowing 50mph and gust up to 70) it broke my forestay and the mast fell. It appears that as the mast fell, the wind pushed it over the side of the boat bending the base plate. I am concerned that the mast may no longer be true (straight), so I'm wondering if anyone knows how I might go about checking this? If it is no longer true, can it be trued up with adjustments on the stays? I am planning on replacing the base plate, stays (just in case they were weakened), one bent spreader, and forestay.

Also, I have a CDI Roller Furler unit which was already installed when I purchased the boat. How difficult is it to replace the steel cable in the CDI Unit?

Thanks;
Chris

[dennisneal]

I'm very sorry to read about your problem.

I would use a beam-generating laser level to check whether or not your mast has been bent. Some can be attached to an object and can shoot an extremely accurate beam for a hundred feet, or more. You could measure if there is any deviation between the beam and the mast. I suppose a small deviation is allowable.

You might also carefully examine the sail slot. A "kink" in the mast would show up a a widening, or narrowing, of the gap. Please let us know what you find.

Good luck,

Dennis

[Trouts Dream]

i would also take a magnifier and look for spider webbing as an indication of stress cracking in the area of impact where the mast hit the side of the boat.

[Highlander]

Sorry to see that !,
But with a storm warning why would you not have had your jib halyard attached to your bow deck fittings as an extra forestay & your main halyard attached to a rear deck fitting as a backstay, all this available extra support just sitting their not being used !! ?
Same reason I bungy cord my headsails to their furlers , use four dock lines instead of two ! so storm or other I have no reason to worry
Something for you's all to think about !
I looked at the one pic of your mast I think she looks pretty straight hope you lucked out ! go to the next size up forestay cable & when under power or in heavy sea's where the rigging is taking a beating you should be making use of this redundant rigging as you do not need the jib halyard with a mac furler
Here is an example of the jib halyard saving the day " rig " so to speak in the end of this vid Beene's bottom forestay pin became undone it was the jib halyard being used as an extra forestay that saved the rig and stopped what would have been a nasty situation
http://s844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 010001.mp4

let us all know how you make out

J

[jschrade]

Sighting up the luff track should give you a good idea. It's more than likely you are fine unless you can see a dent or distortion where the mast hit the rail. I suspect you will not. The mast is pretty strong and note that when it is down and secured for traveling, it likely receives more abuse and stress bouncing down the road. I have demasted and it does not fall quickly, it's a slow motion event.

In my case, I did bend the boom but simply bent it back straight. It has a big dent on the side but doesn't seem to flex or create any problems. I would not have tolerated this for the mast.

Blue Water Yachts will make it all better!

Jim

[Fxwg80hd]

Highlander - Unfortunately this happened while I was out of town. Luckily I had removed and stored the boom (probably should have lowered the mast before I left). I checked the long range forecast before leaving, but this storm was not predicted. Came in with about a one day notice.

As for the Halyard, it was holding the Jib Sock up, which is why the jib sock is still attached to the top of the mast where the forestay broke and the jib is still attached to the bow. Thanks for the tip. I was sitting here thinking how lucky I was that this did not happen while I was sailing. From now on I will attach the Jib Halyard to the bow after removing the Jib Sock. I do have a separate Halyard for my spinnaker. Think I will upgrade the line for it and attach that to the bow as well for support when the jib halyard is holding the jib sock.

Dennis - I like the idea of the laser level. I will give that a try and see what the result is.

Jim - Thanks, I think you are correct. Already pricing the items on BWY.

Thanks;
Chris

[gianpaolo]

sorry for the accident
at first sight looks a dreadful picture, but I'm confident it's not as bad as it looks, aluminium masts are quite flexible (they must be for their duty) that saved the mast, otherwise it would be visibly bent, the base plate absorbed the most of the energy causing its torsion, but it also slowed down the fall, I don't think the mast hit the hull badly. I think Chris must thank it was a Macgregor with its fine mast rising device I think if it wasn't things could have been much worst.

ps I didn't know Macgregors could fly how did you put the boat that fashion?
good luck
Gianpaolo

[Fxwg80hd]

Gianpaolo - You did not know about the MacGregor levitating option? Doesn't really fly, but great for levitating above rough water. Luckily the Mac is a planing hull so it fits on a boat lift. Basically same design as some of the aftermarket trailers talked about elsewhere on this site. Called the factory to check and they said give 4 feet between bunks so it rides on the water ballast frame where there is extra support.

Chris

[DaveB]

Chris,
Looks like from your picture , your mast is OK but ck any crinks that may be but I doubt you will have one. The mast base plate is what I would look at carefully. The twist of the fitting will result in a mounting on deck that will be prone to leakage and maybe Structural failure in the deck to base plate. Also ck your Spreader connections to mast.
Your fore-stay shroud should not have separated in those winds.
How did it seperate? Broken wire,turnbuckle Failure or under tension of standing rigging?
I upgraded to the 5/32 head-stay over the stock 1/8 head-stay.
Great inprovement in headstay bent. You can go as large as 3/16 inch for the CDI-2 furler.
Ck Blue water for replacement
http://www.bwyachts.com/BWYParts/PartsList.htm
Dave

Durning the wind storm Baltimore had on Dec 1st, (blowing 50mph and gust up to 70) it broke my forestay and the mast fell. It appears that as the mast fell, the wind pushed it over the side of the boat bending the base plate. I am concerned that the mast may no longer be true (straight), so I'm wondering if anyone knows how I might go about checking this? If it is no longer true, can it be trued up with adjustments on the stays? I am planning on replacing the base plate, stays (just in case they were weakened), one bent spreader, and forestay.

Also, I have a CDI Roller Furler unit which was already installed when I purchased the boat. How difficult is it to replace the steel cable in the CDI Unit?

Thanks;
Chris

[Fxwg80hd]

Dave - I believe what caused the break (was out of town so I do not know for sure) was the wind pushing on the back of the mast allowing slack on the headstay. This allowed the whole rolled up jib to whip back and forth basically cutting the steel cable at the compression joint (see picture). The tips given by Highlander would have prevented the problem all together. Unfortunately, the lesson will cost me but at least so far it does not look like it will cost as much as it could have. I can't imagine how much it cost to ship a 30 foot mast across the country.

Thanks tip on upgrading the cable. I will do that.

Chris

[Matt19020]

Chris,
OUCH!!! I know this will not make you feel better but at least you were not sailing when it happened with a full crew and injuries could have occoured.....
When you fix her up again you may want to use a second forestay as I did here. I have read of at least a dozen failures one way or another from some sort of equipment or human failure...

I have been dismasted under power So I speak with some expierience ...See Day 3 here:
http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... f=9&t=7843

Just curious what area are you at in Baltimore? We are seriously considering
http://www.marylandmarina.net/aboutus.html
for the 2012 season.

I SUGGEST THIS MOD FOR EVERYONE....

Mast hound should be as hgh on the mast as possible and turnbuckle is on the port side of anchor roller. In this location there is no interference to the furling jib and the Mod was less then $100, including swagging tool from http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware.htm This now gives me some piece of mind with a redundant forestay

[Fxwg80hd]

Matt - Maryland Marina is pretty nice and the Wild Duck Cafe is a great place during the Spring / Summer nights. I live on the next river over, about 8 miles away. Thanks for the tip.

Chris

[seahouse]

Hey Fxwg80hd –

Yipes! Sorry about your mishap. In one respect it was good that the boat was not in the water. However, THAT damage might NOT have happened if the boat was in the water. Of course, some other damage might have occurred.

I’m pointing this out to be sure it's recognized.

The lateral forces experienced by the mast and rigging of any sailboat are limited by the righting moment of the hull. When in the water, these forces are minimal in comparison because the boat will simply heel. When on the hard though, as pictured, the design forces might easily be exceeded.

Regards – Brian.

BTW - Love your nifty lift set-up. Ideal. Is it 120V powered or 12V battery powered?

[Catigale]

Chris - without knowing how loose your forestay was, that looks a lot more like corrosion failure than fatigue - the discolouration on the swages is also evidence that you had some chemical stuff going on. Im not an expert on this stuff, so my opinion is a bit like a silly hat in this case....(every a** has one )

As Ive posted a few times before, if you go to heavier forestay wire, you dont protect yourself from fatigue failure. You will require higher tension in the heavier forestay wire, so make sure you solve your loose forestay problem first, before upgrading your forestay.

[Terry]

I upgraded my forestay from 4/32 to 5/32 and the turnbuckle from 1/4 to 5/16 as well. I had to increase the forestay to accommodate a Shaefer Snapfurler CF700 so I beefed up the turnbuckle too. It is only an extra 1/32 of an inch which makes it the same size as the four shrouds that are pulling against it which makes it more equal. I cannot understand why the factory would not make the forestay the same strength as the shrouds given there are four big bully shrouds ganging up on the forestay. It is not expensive to do and any rigging shop will do it and it does provide for more peace of mind. I now have a spare forestay which I may have another use for.