Sloop John B wrote:...The boat was damaged on the road. Check the mast. Did that happen at sea? I doubt, but maybe...
Hmmm... don't know, SJB, I think it was almost definitely in the water when it was hit, and the mast itself is the clue.
IMHO, the mast damage seems consistent with the mast being in a raised position. Consider this... when the Mac was hit the inertia of the mast made it want to stay in one place... so the boat was forced to port, and the mast top stayed put, beginning the bend, and it then collapsed immediately after the hit, folding down, bending neatly at the base. Just like when you hit the cue-ball at the base or when you tackle a quarterback with a low-level hit - you get backspin - and just like the cue or the quarterback, that mast got clipped at the knees and fell back against direction of the hit.
Have a look at the picture below... notice that the mast is bent from port to starboard (consistent with the boat being hit from the starboard side), and also note that there isn't any damage to the bow rail in line with where the mast is damaged, nor is there damage to the mast in line with where the bow rail was bent. Finally, there doesn't appear to be any scratches on the mast to give evidence of any sort of 'impact' type of hit... instead we're left with just a really fugly bend where she fell over. Ouch.
