Great Memorial Day Sailing...until the mast came down

[c130king]

Hello Fellow Mac Enthusiasts,

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...a tale of a fateful trip...

My little buddy, DJ (aka Gilligan) and I departed Casa Rio Sunday morning under a slightly hazy sky that eventually turned into a fantastic sunny day with winds out of the South 12-15 knots...which in the Chesapeake means 2' waves. Fantastic sailing...broad reach/run NE past Thomas Pt Lighthouse all the way to the Eastern Shore then 270 degree tack (chickened out trying to Gybe in 15 knots) back to the NW to the Western Shore just north of Annapolis...then another 270 degree tack back to the NE and under the Bay Bridge. Full sails...averaged 5.5 knots for 2+ hours...hit 7+ two or three times. It was AWESOME.

Once under the bridge we did the "heave to" and I reefed the main for a little more control. Then we met up with Tony B (aka TFlight) on his '09 . He had his full main up but only a jib so we were a pretty even match as I was flying my full 150 Genoa. We sailed around for 20 minutes or so then we motored into Sandy Point State Park Marina to take a bathroom break. After about an hour of cooling down in the Park/Marina Store with cold drinks we decided to head back out with both boats...about 1400ish...and sail past Sandy Point Light House then NW up to Baltimore Light then a 5+ mile broad reach across the bay and anchor out overnight somewhere around Eastern Neck Island National Wildlife Refuge.

The sail past Sandy Point Light House and up to Baltimore Light were FANTASTIC. Perfect winds. Headed North going wing-on-wing doing 4.5 knots for about 30 minutes before we were able to bear off to the West for a great reach to Baltimore Light. König was in the lead and we sailed just South of the Baltimore Light and then did a perfect Gybe around the Light. I filmed Tony as he approached the Light and did his Gybe about 3 minutes behind me.

I had just turned off the video when Gilligan stated "Skipper, I think Tony's Mast is falling down"...I looked behind me... Tony's mast was leaning back about 30 degrees. He was trying to get his sail down but the mast couldn't take the strain and it fell in the water...the mast broke off the base plate...the top 2/3 of the mast was in the water along with the boom, the main, the furler, and the Jib. Tony looked to be okay...but I was probably 100-150 yards ahead of him.

I quickly tacked and then lowered the motor, reconnected the steering, got my sails secured and motored over to help. Another big sailboat was close and he also tacked and came back around to make sure nobody had gone in the water. But as I got up there Tony was already starting to try to pull things up. The other boat headed out since I was there to help. Everything was a mess...we decided to bring König alongside and let DJ/Gilligan get onboard with Tony and help out. I just circled around and took pics and videos. But Tony kept his cool and got things under control. He was drifting North in the 2' waves and 12-15 knots of wind so he set his new anchor (first time for him I think) and that held his boat in place. We were about 1/2 mile NW of the Baltimore Light and there was no boat traffic or hazards so that was a good thing.

Tony and DJ took about an hour but they were able to get everything on board. Got the boom and main down below. Got the mast secured in the normal trailering position and got the Jib/Furler bungeed to the mast. Then we both motored back to Sandy Point Marina where Tony had launched from. By the time we got his boat on the trailer it was after 7:00 so DJ and I decided to just stay tied up at one of the piers at the State Park and spent the night there. Tony had dinner with us and left around 10:00. Another came in around 10:00 and we helped him recover.

The next morning DJ and I had a nice relaxing coffee followed by a motoring tour of the Annapolis Harbour and the US Naval Academy and all the big fancy marinas...we had no wind. Until about 8:00 then we had a nice 2.5 hour sail in about 8-10 knots of wind. Then the winds died and it was hot so we finished off our day around noon.

Anyway, here are some photos:







Next post...

[c130king]

[c130king]

So the Diagnosis. Tony had a cotter pin in his forestay/furler pin like the one above. Apparently the cotter pin came off and the pin back out and the forestay become unattached. There was no damage at all the bottom of his furler or the forestay tang/bow chainplate (whatever it is called).

Tony has welded a piece of metal to the front side of his mast base plate that is wedged below a large metal bolt. This is meant to keep the mast from coming down hard if the forestay were to break or disconnect. This thing did work but the weight of the boom and sail caused the holes in the bottom of the mast where the bolt goes through to just rip out and the mast became disconnected from the mast base. The mast base got bent up some.

Once we looked everything over it seems like Tony can either have some sort of support sleave built for either inside or outside his mast to provide a little structural strength at the bottom to support new bolt holes. Or maybe he can cut off the bottom 1" or so of his mast and just live with it a little shorter. The mast appears to be perfectly straight. No damage to the furler. He will probably need new pieces for his base plate.

Overall he was very fortunate...this could have been much worse or much more expensive.

I have some videos of this as well...as soon as I get them edited I will post them.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König
Sailing on König YouTube Channel

[c130king]

Here is the video of Tony's boat with the mast down. I was running out of battery so this is all I got. Once they got everything secured they were able to motor in...no tow necessary.

Tony's Boat Dis-Masted -- 5-29-2011

Cheers,
Jim

And for videos of happier sailing adventures from this weekend check out my website...in a couple of hours.

[Ixneigh]

Glad to hear no one was hurt. What about cleating the jib hslyard to the stem fitting some how as a safety? Ive done that on various boats that had iffy rigging. It would only work with boats flying a non futling jib ofcourse.
Also I've had my M out in some fairly brisk winds with as much sail as I thought she could handle and I've yet to see six let alone seven. What's your secret?

[c130king]

Glad to hear no one was hurt. What about cleating the jib hslyard to the stem fitting some how as a safety? Ive done that on various boats that had iffy rigging. It would only work with boats flying a non futling jib ofcourse.

He doesn't have a jib sock and the halyard, of course, is internal to the furler. That is why he installed that "tongue" of metal on the front side of his mast base. The large bolt/pin was supposed to keep the mast from falling back. It kept the mast base from coming back but it didn't prevent the mast from ripping off its base and then falling back. He is going to install a second forestay like several others have done.

Also I've had my M out in some fairly brisk winds with as much sail as I thought she could handle and I've yet to see six let alone seven. What's your secret?

I hit 6+ all the time with my main and 150 Genoa. The 7's were momentary gusts plus a little surfing down a 2' wave. I have hit 7 before as well...25-30 degrees of heel. Is your Mac blue...

Cheers,
Jim

[Berber Boy]

No one hurt so that is great news.

The commentary of your sailing on the Chesapeake brought back many memories of standing at Annapolis and elsewhere wishing I had a yacht when I lived back in the late nineties in Maryland for awhile.

As a matter of interest, has anyone thought about adding an extra hound high on the mast and connecting a safety wire or Spectraspeed line there and down to the pulpit as a fallback safety mechanism. Even with a furler it should give ample clearance I would have thought? Have been thinking about doing it anway so I can attach my furler up higher and avoid the overhang when towing at the front end. Would appreciate anyones experience with that kind of mod?

BB

[c130king]

I finished editing my many videos from this weekend. And this one is 2:27 of Tony on his boat plus DJ (aka Gilligan) and me on König sailing towards Baltimore Light. I think if you look closely at the last few seconds I captured Tony's furler disconnecting. It looks to me like his furler is only being held by the furling line...looks like the drum is too high. But I turned off the camera before the mast fell.

Tony's Dis-Masting 5-29-2011

Cheers,
Jim

[Fxwg80hd]

That was some weekend. Wish I had been able to get finished with my repairs so I could have gone out as well. Hoping to get out next weekend.

[Divecoz]

No One got hurt? That's Awesome!! Rigging appears "fine" salvageable? What would/will he do different? Just a more secure "locking" pin?

[Russ]

Wow! Wild story.

No injuries in a situation that might have been different. Damage is minimal.

Good lessons there. Don't use junky pins in the forestay. Others have use the jib halyard as a backup. Mine would tangle with the furler if I tried.

Also, Tony was lucky to have someone nearby to help out. Single handling that mess could have been a real chore.

--Russ

[ALX357]

Yup, that works .....

I attached a couple of higher hounds to the mast, now have three. The original lower hound is only used for a dedicated mast raising/lowering line, the middle hound is for the furler alone, and the upper highest one for the furler sock when the Genoa is furled for any length of time, and for a second or back-up forestay, which is attached to a s.s. eye bolted to the pulpit, to resist the mast falling backwards.

The higher Genoa not only lessens the length when stowed against the lowered mast, but it provides better visibility, great visibility, complete visibility forward, and it allows the lifelines to be moved from the bottom of the pulpit to the top edge, via some clamp-on s.s eyes.

............
As a matter of interest, has anyone thought about adding an extra hound high on the mast and connecting a safety wire or Spectraspeed line there and down to the pulpit as a fallback safety mechanism. Even with a furler it should give ample clearance I would have thought? Have been thinking about doing it anway so I can attach my furler up higher and avoid the overhang when towing at the front end. Would appreciate anyones experience with that kind of mod?

BB

[ALX357]

Note some members have warned that the higher Genoa positioning will cause increased heeling, .... maybe so, but that is controllable by trim. Another advantage is the ability to haul it in tighter, as the luff contact point is higher against the tops of the shrouds/stays, where they are closer to the mast, thus allowing tighter closer sheeting of the Genoa.

The safety difference of having unimpeded forward visibility is huge. As is the full-height lifelines mod.

[ALX357]

Note also the use of the BWY quick pins, with long shafts and huge heads. That long shaft allows easier visibile monitoring of the ring-ding. The pin is always inserted so the ring-ding is AWAY from, on the other side of the chainplate, from the anchor rode. I have never seen any lines getting near the pin's ring-ding. The extra length besides allowing better visual checking, also means extra time if it is working its way out, should it somehow lose that ring-ding.

Actually, even if that lower pin should work loose, there is another pin at the bottom pivot that will hold the furler. Together, the pivot and the over-center lock pin give redundancy at the bottom where the danger of fouling is greatest.

[ALX357]