I thought a mast must got o the keel to be a serious offshore cruiser?

[Tempest245]

FloridaWriter,

My old bristol 29 ended up in Florida, What year? any name on it ?

[jackdale]

Bill Crealock's boats have deck stepped masts, at least the one's I have sailed. That convinced me.

Jack

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by nonam

I think one major reason we are seeing more deck stepped boats is because they are easier and cheaper to produce.

They are also easier to ship on a truck. 40' boat vs. 60' mast. Try ordering a 60' mast on the West Coast.

BTW- Mine is keel stepped. The problem I have is, which only a machinist eye could see (maybe), is on a heavy heel (30º+) the deck has a tendency to bulge up around the mast, squeezing the hull and allowing to lee shrouds to loosen up a bit.

I do have a stay rod that's attached between the deck and keel step just aft of the mast but it just isn't enough to stop the bulging deck. So I plan to put an arch between the chain plates, up under the deck to reinforce the squeeze problem. A nice perdy one.

With a deck stepped mast the deck would be squeezed between the mast and compression post eliminating the bulging problem. So IMHO, for off- shore, a deck stepped mast would seem to be a stronger system providing one can keep the stick straight up and the deck is solid glass to prevent crushing.

[jackdale]

Another proposed advantage to the deck step mast.

If a cap shroud breaks and the mast comes down, the deck step shears away at the deck, leaving the cabin roof intact. The keel step mast may take off part of the cabin exposing the crew to the elements.

Any experiences with this scenario?

Jack

[bob perry]

You see what you want to see. How many of you have ever been on boats that lost it's rig? I have.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by bob perry

You see what you want to see. How many of you have ever been on boats that lost it's rig? I have.

I have no experience with lost rigs. I hope I never see one. Can you describe your experience(s)?

Jack

[bob perry]

Jack:
I'd prefer not to. They were not fun. One was due to a faulty chainplate knee and one was due to a weak spot in the extruded mast tube (as far as we could determine). The third one was corroded wire hidden in a swage.

I remain convinced (for now) that for offshore cruising boats, while there are advantages and dissadvantages to both systems, the best way to go is keel stepped. My own boat has a deck stepped mast.

[delmarrey]

Heck, you don't even have to be at sea to lose a mast.

[anotherT34C]

Here's a link to a pretty good account of a dismasting on a Westsail42 in the Gulfstream.

The captain is a retired engineer from my lab, and has since gone on to circumnavigate several times, sail to Antarctica, and next plans to try the Northwest Passage. Quite a guy. I recommend his videos.

YachtFiona.com - Yacht Fiona, Sailing, Sail, World

Not sure what to make of it, really. Mast was deck-stepped, so minimal hull damage occured, however had it been keel stepped, might he have been able to save some of it?

It's actually a really good example for what can happen when you sail a boat too large to effectively single-hand.

[Sandero]

Obviously the keel stepped is self supporting. The rig may be needed to optimize sailing but one could sail without some of the stays or even jury rigging something. The issue is what sort of spar and rigging damage is likely offshore.

A roll over is likely to leave one without sails and a whole lot more missing.

A stay which parts can be repaired on either a keel or deck stepped rig.

The spar is also the location for VHF, radar and lights.

I wonder how likely a vessel will lose parts of the rig and be left with a usable mast offshore in a "mishap"?

I suspect the benefits of a keel step are slight.

I don't intend to find out from personal experience.

[Marco]

I dont have the answer to what is best, but is sail offshore with a deck stepped rig. Deck stepped masts come clean off the deck when you dismast and if you are lucky there will be little or no damage other than losing the mast and rig. Keel stepped might provide the advantage of having a stomp to set a jury rig, but you are unlikely to have a halyard to the top of your stomp so it might be tricky.

This is what it looked like when i dismated last summer, 200 miles offshore:
Dismasting Pictures | blogSTAR

I saved the boom and used to set my jury rig, here under sail again with somewhat less sail!

Jury rig | blogSTAR

M.

[s/v Jedi]

There are keel-stepped masts out there that are free standing, without standing rigging, like the aerorig or nonsuch. A child can understand that this is a stronger construction, even with standing rigging. The question is if you need that strength or not.

I disagree with keel stepped automatically resulting in leaks. We have none, never.... The trick is you need a waterlock above deck-level for the cabling (with inspection hatch also needed for pulling cables) and one of those molded socks. We actually had a leak once.... when the drain for the waterlock was plugged with parts of a birds nest....

Both versions need a strong deck but flush deck is stronger than cabin. So flush deck with keel-stepped is strongest.

A point not discussed is the wiring for deck stepped. How is that done? It leads either to leaks or vulnerable cables or at least something to trip over or snag a line on.

I had both and was happy with both. A small boat with deckstepped can lower the mast without outside help which is a plus. On a bigger boat I want keel stepped.

cheers,
Nick.