Mast lowering disaster - a cautionary tale

[Mandarin331]

The other weekend we arrived at the yard and saw our neighbour on the hardstanding (who will remain unidentified) apparently preparing to lower his mast assisted by his wife on a 31'er. Shortly afterwards we heard noises of panic and I looked over and saw the following. His wife was on the foredeck with a rope attached to the forestay which she was paying out round a cleat (with no tackle). There was no A frame, and the mast has reached a point where the forestay was approaching parallel with the mast.

Her husband was standing on the companionway hatch (!) attempting to take the full weight of the mast, running and standing rigging (including the furling gear) and clearly struggling, having reached a point of no return, and seemed unable to move. I offered to help, he declined but she accepted, sounding very scared - so I went on board and he asked my to help him on the coachroof. Meanwhile she also moved aft and stood near the sheet winches. I joined him and took some of the weight, at which point he said he wanted to move aft, let go of the mast and stepped into the cockpit. The sudden weight transfer was too much for me and I dropped the mast the remaining 5 feet to the deck.

As I was standing astride the hatch the mast dropped off centre over the quarter, hitting my leg and almost landing on her, she was clearly hurt as was my leg. The only apparent damage to the boat I could see was a twisted tabernacle and bent sprayhood frame. After 10 days my shin is still swollen and I'm thinking of a trip to the doctor, but I really believe we could have been calling an ambulance . We haven't seen them since, the boat appears to be prepared for road transport and so will probably never see them again.

Since then I have wondered about a couple of things:-

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- Firstly the stupidity of trying to lower a mast with just two people and none of the correct gear

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- Second, exactly how much weight were we trying to support, say ten feet aft of the tabernacle with a fully rigged mast.

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- Lastly - should I have offered to help at all - the consequences could have been far, far worse for me (broken leg, possible liability ??) - but I don't see how you could stand by and watch.

Any thoughts?

 

[MYStargazer]

Buy a motor boat...?

 

[ghostlymoron]

You and they were lucky. It could have been worse with boat and people being severely injured. There's always a critical point when the rope supporting the mast approaches parallel. An A frame would have helped but even so you risk snapping the often alloy bottom fixing due to unexpected sideways movement.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I'm surprised that the "yard" allow peeps to lower their own masts (of whatever size!) without supervision, in these days of 'elfin softie' and prolific litigation.

That said and regarding your own questions, then yes you were right to offer and give help. Your conscience would have been sorely tested if you hadn't and the lady/man had been seriously injured/killed.

No idea of the weight involved, but my limited knowledge of "geometry and mechanics" and experience of my own mast's weight would tell me the weight would be enormous and impossible to control (takes three men to just lift mine and carry it).

As for tackle (for a two person operation) IMHO even an A frame for that length of mast would be a liability for two people. I know, I used to erect fibreglass flagpoles and serious mechanical assistance was needed for all but the smallest ones. And that was on a wide, stable platform (ground), not the deck of a boat.

I'm sorry to hear your leg was hurt, and hope it improves soon - go to the doc to check no long-term damage/complications. I hate the litiginous society, but the yard must surely be in some way responsible, particularly in the event you can't trace the daft people themselves.
I think you should be making serious efforts to register your injury and possible claim.

 

[simonfraser]

Easy to say with hindsight, but the best you could have done at the time was to drop the mast between the three of you and sod the boat etc.
Not easy to do when you just walk on, glad you 'just' bruised your leg.

 

[guernseyman]

A suggestion for the neighbours if they wish to step or unstep their mast again - use a fitting (e.g. cleat or winch) on a distant boat. The geometry improves the mechanics.

 

[[3889]]

I hate the litiginous society, but the yard must surely be in some way responsible, particularly in the event you can't trace the daft people themselves.

Of course it's the yards fault, god forbid there is any suggestion of personal responsibility. I can also see why not being able to trace the boat owners would add to the yard's responsibility. Wasn't Preston Marina by any chance? They seem culpable for most failings.

 

[chewi]

The yard might be responsible for providing contact details of the unknown boaters, but surely that's it, they can't be accountable for people shooting themselves in the foot.

 

[chewi]

A suggestion for the neighbours if they wish to step or unstep their mast again - use a fitting (e.g. cleat or winch) on a distant boat. The geometry improves the mechanics.

Against such a pattern of mechanical ineptitude the only sensible suggestion is to delegate it to someone who has done it before and can perceive the risks and forces that are plainly apparent.

Beyond the smallest of cruisers this is a dodgy procedure that needs an awareness of the forces involved.

As said above a mast can need 3 people to carry it uniformally distributed.
It will overpower anyone alone in the cockpit, or trying to restrain it from the foredeck.

 

[dylanwinter]

it does seem

it does seem to me that there was an astonishing failure to understand the basic mechanics of lowering masts

Even on Katie L I use a fairly high crutch because as the mast gets closer to horizontal the forces become impossible to control

I shall make sure that there are plenty of blokes and lots of rope and tackle on hand before attemting to do the same job on Harmony

D

 

[SteveTibbetts]

So how much weight IS involved on the mast of a 31' ? I'm dropping the mast on mine next week, using a suitable crane, but I can foresee that me and my 1 crew might want to shift it around for best fit while we do the Forth Clyde canal.

 

[vyv_cox]

So how much weight IS involved on the mast of a 31' ? I'm dropping the mast on mine next week, using a suitable crane, but I can foresee that me and my 1 crew might want to shift it around for best fit while we do the Forth Clyde canal.

Maybe not quite as much as has been suggested above. Jill and I have carried the mast of our Sadler 34 a short distance, no radar or other equipment attached but with shrouds and stays. I would not want to lower it off the boat though.

 

[prv]

I'm surprised that the "yard" allow peeps to lower their own masts (of whatever size!) without supervision, in these days of 'elfin softie' and prolific litigation.

Well I'm very glad they do, and resent any suggestion that they shouldn't. We used to raise and lower both of Kindred Spirit's masts each season - smoothly, under control, and able to pause at any point - why should the incompetence of some other bunch of numpties prevent us doing so?

That said and regarding your own questions, then yes you were right to offer and give help. Your conscience would have been sorely tested if you hadn't and the lady/man had been seriously injured/killed.

Agreed. And I wouldn't have any worries over "liability" in those circumstances. Assuming you're not a professional rigger, your only duty was to do what any reasonable passer-by could, any honest mistakes included. Provided you didn't climb on board and deliberately make the situation worse, you should have nothing to worry about.

As for tackle (for a two person operation) IMHO even an A frame for that length of mast would be a liability for two people.

I'd definitely think twice (or more) before trying to self-lower the mast of a bermudan 31-footer, especially without a tabernacle as I think was the case here. Some form of A-frame still seems like the best way if you must, but it wants to be seriously tall, and probably independently stayed and static. And better replaced with a crane.

I hate the litiginous society [...] I think you should be making serious efforts to register your injury and possible claim.

Seems to be encouraging it rather than "hating" it...

the yard must surely be in some way responsible, particularly in the event you can't trace the daft people themselves.

So what have the yard done wrong here? It's the numpties on the boat who decided to lower their mast in an obviously unworkable and dangerous fashion - any blame should attach to them. And there's an argument that the OP voluntarily accepted some risk when he saw the danger and decided to help, moral issues with walking on by accepted.

Pete

 

[dom]

Lastly - should I have offered to help at all - the consequences could have been far, far worse for me (broken leg, possible liability ??) - but I don't see how you could stand by and watch.

Imagine you happened along just at the point I, armed with only a baseball bat, was entering a tiger's cage to teach it a lesson for stealing my Sunday roast. It would be very civil of you to point out the stupidity of my impending action. But if I asked you to hold his tail so I could get a better shot, you would be well advised and morally justified to walk away. IMO

 

[boaterbaz]

PRV is spot on, you chose to assist, the numties chose to drop their stick. Yard in no way responsible.

 

[pmagowan]

So how much weight IS involved on the mast of a 31' ? I'm dropping the mast on mine next week, using a suitable crane, but I can foresee that me and my 1 crew might want to shift it around for best fit while we do the Forth Clyde canal.

I don't think the weight is the main concern, it is more the leverage. I am able to lift one half of the mast without significant bother, fully rigged, when it is out of the boat and horizontal. My mast would be about the right size for a 30 footer. The last time we stepped it we used the crane from a salmon farm barge which did the job and took the strain while we put our efforts into controlling it.

 

[Poignard]

Shamal

What sort of a man would you be if you didn't try to help someone in a mess? I hope most of us would.

 

[Cantata]

So how much weight IS involved on the mast of a 31' ? I'm dropping the mast on mine next week, using a suitable crane, but I can foresee that me and my 1 crew might want to shift it around for best fit while we do the Forth Clyde canal.

I can barely lift the rigged mast on my 31-footer (Moody, Selden/Kemp mast) with one other person on the other end. I would guess at least 200lb.

 

[Tam Lin]

Put up the mast of my Centaur last week using the boat club crane. H & S means we had to weigh it and it was 45kg.

 

[Lakesailor]

Easy to say after the event, but at the moment you got involved it would have been good to look for a ladder or similar that you could have employed as a crutch to take the weight of the mast whilst you worked out your next move.
Must be a ladder or something around in a boat yard.