Dismasted but Not Destroyed

[crewtv]

My bavaria 46 lost its mast last weekend, 2 weeks before I take over after a 5 year charter management agreement. Oh well it was insured but still a bit nervous. Normally a car is never the same after a good crash. Any experience what I should look for? A forward weld broke loose on top of the selden mast that connects the Furlex Genoa. Maybe good it happened with a charter rather than me as after the charter program is over. No one was hurt, oh yea.

New mast is ordered but they plan to use the old rig and boom. New sails will come. Deck has a nice ding in the wood and a bit of rail is going to have to be replaced. Im guessing the wireing is going to be an issue. Even fresh masts have wireing problems often. Any experience

[MarkJ]

Thats a bummer!
What did the dill do?

[zeehag]

wow
goood luck.
i would , first, have a gooood cry or laugh or scream(depending on situation)..and thank the gods there was no one injured.
then i would research the piss outta the subject--like, why did it fail and is it something having to do with wear and tear or if it is intrinsic in the design and building of my boat
then i would see about the repairs.
then i would sit back and relax and make really bad jokes about it, thanking the gods there was no one injured in the mess.
then i would go to sleep ... when i wake up it best be fixed--correctly.....goood luck and smooth sailing.

[Vasco]

What has Selden said about the weld breaking loose? Don't know exactly what happened but the mast is only five years old and a weld fails? Conditions look pretty benign.

[MarkJ]

Having a look at the photo.
The dinks on deck, can't see the outboard. - so they were going somewhere.
Genoa fully unfurled, can really tell with the main.
Sea flat as a tack. 18-20 knots?

Sailing upwind, hit a little wave and snapped the weld on the Seldon?

Bloody hope it was more than that!

Very lucky no one was injured.

[rebel heart]

A fitting on a roller furling caused a mast to pop? But I thought roller furlers in absolutely no way increase the chances of losing your stick...

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by rebel heart

A fitting on a roller furling caused a mast to pop? But I thought roller furlers in absolutely no way increase the chances of losing your stick...

Its a 7/8ths rig (deck stepped) so it must mean the fitting on the mast holding up the forestay but the halyard should have kept the rig up in those conditions... wouldnt it?

[Weyalan]

Personally, I don't think that the loss of a mast impacts on the boat in the way a decent crash in a car means the car is never quite the same. Seriously, I wouldn't worry about it from that point of view. Selden masts have a decent reputation, so either you were very unlucky or, perhaps more likely, something else happened during the charter period to damage the forestay to mast fitting.

Personally, I'd be pusing for them to replace the standing rigging as well as the mast, but they (or their insurance company) is probably going to try to dig their heels in over spending any more than they can get away with. Not that there will, necessarily, be anything wrong with the current stuff, but do inspect it all (or have it insepcted) thoroughly, if it is to be re-used.


It may be worth checking with your insurer that they will be happy to insure the new mast with old rigging. A friend of mine damaged his mast and had to get a new one - his insurance company wouldn't insure the new mast unless he also replaced the standing rigging (his standing rigging was significantly older than in your case... >10 years, but even so).

[Weyalan]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Its a 7/8ths rig (deck stepped) so it must mean the fitting on the mast holding up the forestay but the halyard should have kept the rig up in those conditions... wouldnt it?

5 year old, abused (charter) halyard, probably standard double braid (As opposed to anything exotic), probably as thin as one could get away with. It doesn't exactly surprise me that it did not hold the stick up.

I'd be replacing all the running rigging as a start, after 5 years in charter.

[speciald@ocens.]

Last winter a few month old Moorings 52 broke free of its mooring anchor, drifted out the Oyser Pond channel in Sint Maarten, ran aground on the reef, and was totaled durings its recovery and reduced to scrap. The owner in Salt Lake City was probably as sad or sadder than you.

[Ex-Calif]

Several whitecaps in the background so probably a pretty good blow. The rig still should have not come down.

I'm gonna guess bad weld/manufacturing defect.

[bstreep]

Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about any possible stigma. You are getting a new mast, and likely some new rigging and sails out of it. Glad no one was hurt.

[Joli]

Thats why you drive the pins out and drop it overboard.

Reset..............

[barnakiel]

Personally, this is not the first Bavaria with SELDEN rig I have seen dismasted.

I think Bavaria under-specified the rig knowing the boat is meant for weekend use even though the CE marking reads A.

The other factor can be one never knows what those charter people do with the boat and then also how often the stick was pulled out for inspection or else how often anybody ventured up the stick to have a look at the fittings.

And yet another argument for having two stays, in-line spreaders, etc.. it never hurts to have a back up wire there should one of them go bang.

b.