Large tree limb hit mast. I need advice.

[opie]

Yesterday a large tree limb hit my trailered Mac 26X mast at an angle, from port to starboard, crushing the mast crutch. The impact did not dent the mast but the impact left an estimated 4 inch rake toward the port side. It seems almost as if the normal mast incline at the top toward the stern is now toward the port side.

The advice sought is whether the stays and shrouds will correct this, or should I try to bend it back, or should I buy a new mast?

Thanks for your input.

Pics show mast (yes, spreader got severed as well), my red centerline sketch line, and the crushed crutch.

[Jimmyt]

Yesterday a large tree limb hit my trailered Mac 26X mast at an angle, from port to starboard, crushing the mast crutch. The impact did not dent the mast but the impact left an estimated 4 inch rake toward the port side. It seems almost as if the normal mast incline at the top toward the stern is now toward the port side.

The advice sought is whether the stays and shrouds will correct this, or should I try to bend it back, or should I buy a new mast?

I don't think the rigging will pull it straight. I would try to straighten it if its not kinked. You might search the board. I think someone has straightened one fairly recently.

... Edit: Found it. http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... st#p316600

[Tomfoolery]

Yesterday a large tree limb hit my trailered Mac 26X mast at an angle, from port to starboard, crushing the mast crutch. The impact did not dent the mast but the impact left an estimated 4 inch rake toward the port side. It seems almost as if the normal mast incline at the top toward the stern is now toward the port side.

The advice sought is whether the stays and shrouds will correct this, or should I try to bend it back, or should I buy a new mast?

I don't think the rigging will pull it straight. I would try to straighten it if its not kinked. You might search the board. I think someone has straightened one fairly recently.

... Edit: Found it. http://www.macgregorsailors.com/forum/v ... st#p316600

I agree. On both counts. That aluminium is pretty ductile, and should straighten without causing harm if the damage isn’t too severe.

[opie]

Thanks. I will bend it back to normal on the next nice day. Stay tuned.

[svscott]

Before messing about with straightening the mast, raise it and see what it does with the standing rigging at work.

My mast had a bend to one side starting right above the spreaders for a bunch of years. The bend made the mast head lean about 3 or 4 inches to one side and I think it happened in early 2000's when the boat still belonged to my dad. The story as I understand it is their rigging tangled with another boat's while being towed back to shore in Long Beach or San Diego - they forgot their rudder and volunteered to be the committee boat for a race and things went awry when being towed.

To straighten the bend, I used an oak block that I contoured to the profile of the mast, placed against the bend and then a 4x4 post on the opposite side of the oak block, along with 4 ratchet straps to slowly counter bend the mast. I went in stages and used two straps per side so I could gradually tighten and then let the straps loose and sight the mast for true.
The amount of counter bend I had to induce to actually make the mast straight while at rest was mildly terrifying! At first I did a little, but a little wouldn't do it, so the little got more and more. I just kept trying to get a little better each time until it was darn near perfect. I would loosen one set of straps per side at a time so the mast didn't spring violently the other way when I undid one.

I have worked with aluminum storefront extrusions (2"x4-1/2" rectangular tubes) for years and know that they can be bent into a fairly tight radius without causing failure so I was kinda confident in what I was doing. Even so, I feared buckling the metal and having to buy a new mast.

I don't have a great "before " picture, but you can see how far from straight I needed to go in the opposite direction to fix a 3 or 4 inch offset. This was done in November 2017 so through the past couple boating seasonsz I've throughly tested the fix and am pretty confident there isn't going to be catastrophic failure... at least not from what I did.

[opie]

Svscott,
Thanks for the pictures.
I think what you are saying is that your rigging almost corrected your bend and to fix it the rest of the way you had to strap it down and force it back to normal. Right?

And my bend, being much less than yours, may not need to be strapped and stretched like yours, and the rigging may straighten it. Right?

It seems to my eye that your bend was about 12 inches to right from plumb. Good job in straightening it and thanks.

I am anxious to rig it first, before bending, to see what I need to do. Good advice you give. I normally try to fix what ain't broke and then suffer for it.
Opie

Here is your mast with my hand drawn line on it.

[svscott]

Opie, the severe bend you see in that picture is the counterbend I needed to apply in the opposite direction to fix what was a 3 or 4" resting/rigged outage.

The 3 or 4 inch bend was there with the mast laying down or rigged.. Before bending it, I first tried fixing the bend using the chain plate adjusters to change shroud and speader tension but that only resulted in a weird S bend.
With the rig I made on my picnic table, I started with 3 or 4 inches of bend to the opposite side then released tension and inspected. Then about 6" bend and relax/inspect. Then 8" and inspect. Then I figured I've gone this far and it's better, but not quite there.. time to go big or go home and it paid off with an almost perfectly straight mast. There's is an almost imperceptible deformation from the oak block pressing on the aluminum but otherwise the repair is almost perfect.

To be honest, I don't notice any difference in performance with the straightened mast but the bend really annoyed me every time I looked up at the wind vane.

[opie]

Related question.
Although I will try straightening the small bend, I can't help but ask the following question.
I noticed that Blue Water only sells a replacement mast in two pieces. I know that must be for shipping reasons and also I am sure the mast is genuinely as strong as a one piece mast. But I have to ask what a future buyer would think if he/she saw the mast had been bolted together in the middle?

[svscott]

That's the first time I've heard of a 2 piece mast. I don't love the idea, but if it's sleeved right, I don't think it'd be a big deal. My big concern would be snagging and chafing the mainsail on the splice when raising or lowering. I'd try to find a used or aftermarket mast, even if it was from a Hobie cat or similar.
I doubt a prospective buyer would put much thought into it having a 2 piece mast. It seems that many current Macgregor buyers tend to be fairly inexperienced or even new sailors and if you can assure them it's good and safe and purchased from the dealer, most will accept it. Especially if the rest of the boat is well maintained and good to go.

[OverEasy]

Didn’t the Mac 26S or the Mac 19 have an internally storable 2 piece mast?

I can’t help but think that having a 2 piece internally storable mast would be more of an asset than a detriment especially if I were in a location with messy snowy winters or when trailering long distances or when using our Mac 26X as a motor cruiser.

I wonder if anyone has made this mod with the BWY 2 piece replacement mast...

[OverEasy]

Just an FYI:
If one were to make a 2 piece mast.....
From a structural slip-joint sort of approach...... As long as there is an overlap length between the inner sleeve and the outer mast of at least 3 (or more preferably) diameters of the outer mast tube above and below the splice joint with at least the same wall thickness of the sleeve to that of the mast tube you shouldn't have any problems. The abutment of the upper/lower mast tube ends and A pair of 1/4" dia SST through bolts evenly spaced above and below would more than account for any torsion the mast may encounter.

(Smooth edges without any nicks or burrs goes without saying...)

[Be Free]

That's the first time I've heard of a 2 piece mast. I don't love the idea, but if it's sleeved right, I don't think it'd be a big deal. My big concern would be snagging and chafing the mainsail on the splice when raising or lowering. I'd try to find a used or aftermarket mast, even if it was from a Hobie cat or similar.
I doubt a prospective buyer would put much thought into it having a 2 piece mast. It seems that many current Macgregor buyers tend to be fairly inexperienced or even new sailors and if you can assure them it's good and safe and purchased from the dealer, most will accept it. Especially if the rest of the boat is well maintained and good to go.

I think I remember on the old MacGregor site that a two-piece mast was an option at least on the .

[OverEasy]

Ah Found It!

It was standard on the Mac19!
What a nice feature to incorporate!!!

This may be something we'd possibly consider doing for our Mac26X next season (2022) as it would really be a neater aspect for storage, trailering and for when we start out thinking we are on a Motor Cruising expedition but change our mind while traveling!

Yes, it is important to get the slot aligned but an alignment jig in the slot when getting set-up to drill the 1/4" dia thru bolt hole for the splice sleeve (and possibly when assembling) should tackle that aspect.

This 2 piece mast idea has generated a lot of positive vibes over here with this discussion and is a definite contender for the 2022 season project list.

[Be Free]

I knew that I'd not seen it in the docs since I've never read them

I saw it in the line drawings of the listed as an optional feature. It is not listed in the price list for the so I suspect the 26X was the last one to use it.

Anyone out there ever actually seen one?