Bent mast? SHE 31 please advise

[Novice69]

Hi new to forum, new to sailing was considering buying this boat. A SHE 31 have been in communication with owner. He just sent me some pics. One photo of the boat looks awkward, it could be me overanalyzing. Nonetheless I would appreciate any advice you can give by the looks of this photo.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Novice.

That looks like [?excessive?] mast "Rake", rather than bent, to these old eyes.

A typical mast rake might range from one to one-and-a-half degrees, on a cruising masthead rig, to as much as four degrees, on a fractional racing rig.

When you add rake to the mast, you tilt the whole sail plan aft. This, in turn, shifts the power aft, pushing more load on the stern, and forcing the bow up into the wind, creating weather helm.

[boatman61]

Looks to me like the angle the picture is taken from is exaggerating the rake of the mast..
No bend that I can see.
Welcome to CF

[Novice69]

Thank you for the insight, I appreciate it.

[StuM]

Hard to say, but she looks to be sitting low at the stern, that would increase the apparent rake.

As would camera tilt - the water's edge in the background is fr from horizontal



Theere may also be as slight fisheye effect from the camera depending on the lens.


I wouldn't put too much weight on that photo.

[Novice69]

Thank you so much. I appreciate the information. The boat has a iron bulb keel. Given she is circa 1974, I asked the owner as well to send me a picture of the bilges and the bolts. Would be grateful for your take on its appearance.

[Novice69]

Thank you!

[ufomist]

The She 31 is a classic to die for! Sparkman & Stephens design, superbly built by South Hants Engineering in the UK.
As your pix show she has a keel-stepped mast, which can be tricky to set up properly - you have to apply pre-bend, and if you don't know about rigging, hire a proper rigger to do it - not the bloke you met last night in the boat club.
I'd say the mast hasn't been set up properly. From memory, she should have an inner forestay too.
I had a She 27, which had a different underwater profile and was also only 25ft - the US measure boats differently to Europeans it seems. She was a stunning little sailing boat with Rod Stephen's 'lake' rig - taller mast and tweaks.
Won are fair amount of silverware and weathered the Fastnet blow in 79, but needed something bigger.
Don't pass on this - good one's are hens teeth but make sure you get a full survey. And pro rigger!

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ufomist.

[Stewie12]

I would agree with other comments about the photo and the angle is was taken from. Best get an opinion from a rigger when you do a survey.

[nortonscove]

A photo is not how you decide to build a boat. We once had a carpenter bring his level aboard a 155' yacht we were rebuilding and he didn't understand why this was an issue.

[Novice69]

Thank you UFOMist, spoke with owner, he is not certain how old the rigging is. Which is of concern. I got a quote for a professional rigger, in the area where the boat is currently located to replace all standing rigging he priced at $5000. So already adding that amount to the price of the boat. Is it worth it?

[stormalong]

Novice69: You don't say where you are or where the boat is. Do you plan to truck it home? The reason I ask is that the professional rigger is probably including dropping and stepping the mast in that cost. $5000 sounds like a lot to replace the standing rigging on a 31 footer. If the mast was already down it is easy to re-rig yourself. Just take off the existing rigging and get it replicated.