Bad mast day

[mastreb]

Hi Colin,

Mike Inmon just posted in another thread that he has new aluminum masts for $1999 and carbon fiber (his design) for $2999. He's in Costa Mesa, so if you wanted to make a really long day of it, you could tow your boat down and pick it up to avoid shipping.

Search for him on the Internet.

Matt

[Calin]

Last Monday I was sailing on the Bay and while tacking, to my stupefaction, saw my mast breaking in half. It was moderately windy that day.
Upon closer inspection a shackle broke at lower shroud connection.
I am now joining the ranks of the people looking for a mast or ways to repair the broken one.
Does anyone know what mast to buy and from where? I live in the Bay area.

The shackle shows signs of metal fatigue and if I had inspected it I would have seen the danger. So I suggest to verify yours. I think it was a combination of a bad batch and a stress 14 months ago when I raised the mast with tangled shrouds that may have put some pressure on it.

!	kmclemore:
	Fixed photo links

Hello everyone,
Got many good suggestions and they were useful to take my decision. The insurance didn't covered the mast. They claimed "wear and tear". So short of spending 1700+ $ I decided to splice the mast:
- moved the top pulley few inches (5-6) higher.
- the mast broke at the level of the holes holding the lower stay bracket. cut out on each side of the break few inches of damaged mast.
-build an insert
-inserted and glued 14 inches of the insert in the lower half mast and leave 19 inches for the top half
-the mast can be assembled and disassembled as needed. Takes a little longer but I do not have the mast hanging in the middle of the boat.
-purchased a new mast based (it got damaged by the mast fall), new set of stays, aluminum tubing for the shrouds and most importantly 2 new shackles from West Marine @ 40$ each.

Sailed once on a windy day and all held together.






Thank you all and great sailing!

[Calin]

few more picture links:

[Catigale]

Links aren't working on IOS...will work on this

[Russ]

Wow! That shackle looks like it just snapped. Any engineer types can comment on how to inspect one of these?

Your sleeve appears to be fiberglass. How heavy is it? Might be a concern going forward with extra weight aloft. However, your boat is sailing again.

[BOAT]

Yeah, that image does not make me feel good at all:



what the hull is going on here?? Why would this happen??

[seahouse]

A good result in the end Calin. Note that a replacement mast will give you a "good as new" result, whereas a properly done repair results in a "better than new" result, with the lower cost as an added bonus.

The broken shackle is a classic example of crevice or pit corrosion in stainless steel. The point of contact with the other metal focused galvanic and or chemical corrosion on one point that might have started out as a simple surface scratch in the metal. Regular inspection, especially in a salt water environment, is the best defence for this.

-B.

[mastreb]

Mike Inmon is building carbon fiber masts for the boats. You might want to contact him if you're interested. I think the price is ~$2000 but don't quote me.

[Catigale]

Wow! That shackle looks like it just snapped. Any engineer types can comment on how to inspect one of these?

Your sleeve appears to be fiberglass. How heavy is it? Might be a concern going forward with extra weight aloft. However, your boat is sailing again.

in your clean crisp MT fresh water, you will never see a broken shackle like that Russ.

[grady]

Yeah, that image does not make me feel good at all:



what the hull is going on here?? Why would this happen??

Trying to figure out where this would be and why you would use that on a side stay?

[Calin]

Wow! That shackle looks like it just snapped. Any engineer types can comment on how to inspect one of these?

Your sleeve appears to be fiberglass. How heavy is it? Might be a concern going forward with extra weight aloft. However, your boat is sailing again.

The sleeve is fiberglass (12 layers) over cedar core. I haven't weighted it but feels like 4 pounds. However the mast is a little shorter.

[Calin]

Yeah, that image does not make me feel good at all:



what the hull is going on here?? Why would this happen??

The reason I've put the picture is more as warning for M owners. The shackle was M original stock. The top one also shows signs of stress. I suspect I had a bad batch. Otherwise the stays would be the first to break. They appeared OK. However, for precaution, I've replaced them too.

[Calin]

Yeah, that image does not make me feel good at all:



what the hull is going on here?? Why would this happen??

Trying to figure out where this would be and why you would use that on a side stay?

Hello Grady, All M boats have them. It is part of the rotating mast system.

[Highlander]

Here is a pic of the one @ the masts lower shrouds
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010007.jpg

here in this pic u can see I have 3 more @ the top of my masts as she is clipper rigged for 4 furlers
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee20 ... 010035.jpg

So the chances of that happening to me would be pretty much not likely
http://i844.photobucket.com/albums/ab1/ ... 56a38b.jpg

these attach to the front of the mast @ the bottom & top shrouds masthound on a reg. M rig


J

[grady]

Yeah, that image does not make me feel good at all:



what the hull is going on here?? Why would this happen??

Trying to figure out where this would be and why you would use that on a side stay?

Hello Grady, All M boats have them. It is part of the rotating mast system.

Ok looked at the manual and see now. Rounded shackel connected to a square hole would think this would be more common. I would definitely keep an eye on that connection.