there went the mast

1114C

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What a weekend that was!! I lurk on these forums v frequently often feeling that I am happier reading than writing but felt this should be written

Going up the east kyle yesterday having left Rothesay to get to Tarbert, the inner stay goes followed by, within about 20 seconds when we were trying to sort it, the mast going into the water - shocked does not begin to cover it!!

Another boat came to help with another standing off to whom we are very grateful - we got the mast back on board (not easy even with 4 males doing it) and motored back to Kip - mast craned off today to find what seems to be no damage to anything - mast or boat!! (mast around 30 feet long on a Oyster 26)

It was a force 2, we had sailed her solidly the previous weekend in much stronger winds and the night before getting to Rothesay with no issues - we are very very lucky that no one got hurt and no damage - the water was flat which helped hugely

Hindsight has taught me now to know what to do should it happen again but I really hope it never does!!

Was supposed to be a stress relieving boys weekend on the boat - did not quite go to plan!!
 

1114C

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that is not us mercifully - it is our neighbour at Kip - he lost it because it was dropped in the marina car park!! - 3 months of the season gone after that accident for him!! we have only lost one weekend (would be a near perfect sailing day though!)
 

ashanta

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It's something we all dread and I'm really pleased for you that it was not anymore serious than you described. With the sea state you describe and the support you received mean't that you were able to manage the situation very well.
As a result do you have any recommendations or advice about dealing with these circumstances should it happen to anyone of us?

Many thanks.

Peter.
 

1114C

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thanks for that

with hindsight I should have got hold of the stay and rammed a screwdriver through it (the bolt had come out of the base of the stay) as a temporary fix then tacked to get the wind off that side (it was on the windward side) then attempted a better fix

or I felt I probably should have made sure that we did not luff up which happened due to the panic which would have stopped the mainsail getting wind on the wrong side which I think caused the mast to bounce off the base

or I should have grabbed the spinnaker halyard and used that as a temporary stay

have no idea if any of them would have worked though! am hoping someone else who knows what should be done might tell me although I am very keen for it not to happen again - truly the worst experience I have had on the boat (so far!!)
 

ghost

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word to the wise
on hearing bang, immediate head to wind, as you said quick assesment then any available halyard or as in your case a suitable pin or shackle once in relaxed state. if the wire actually snaps in its length you could 'jerry rig' it up with suitable line eg kite sheet and double sheet bend and gaffa tape on the wire before you bend it to help alleviate the tendancy to undo or 'slip', leave a good amount of tail on the wire and tape it all up. leaving an amount of tail on view to keep an eye on, reef and if poss keep your motor on and gently go home.
It was a relief to hear that you had favourable conditions and no more than very minor damage, a cheap lesson for you Tom.
 

BrendanS

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how to put this politely? Tom posted a real life experience. 'a cheap lesson' is not a nice way to respond. We all learn a great deal from real life experiences, so please don't put off people who post these experiences.

The rest of your post gives credible information on how to respond to such an emergency, which is helpful and useful
Just a thought

I know you weren't trying to put him off, but small words can make a big difference to a thread?

B
 
G

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My forestay gave out ...

Many moons ago I lost my forestay when the 'eye-bolt' pulled through the deck .... this allowed the furling gear to unwind itslef and genny was then horizontal from mast head .....
The weather at time was F6 gusting 7 .... so was not a comfortable time to have such incident ............
The spreader then broke away on one side meaning the mast was now bending seriously and close to collapse / breaking ...

All I could do was to scramble forward and use the spinny halyard as temp forestay .... which miraculously saved the mast ... the genny was brought under control by hauling the furling line in by hand and then just wrapping as best as possible sail with lashings etc.

This was all while bouncing on the bottom outside Bembridge .... engine - outboard - was swamped etc. etc.

Final story - mast had new spreader hounds fitted, stemhead was modified to a stem-plate with vertical tang etc.
 
G

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Best hotch to attach line ...

If a stay / bottle screw parts etc. then a good rolling hitch on the wire will give you the ability to wind in that stay and jury rig. Once that is done - then a wire grip with another line will provide a stronger and more durable get-you home answer ... that can be fitted more easier as the rolling hitch will hold things for you sufficiently to work.

My box of goodies has .... a) spare bottle screw - old fashioned open body type - easier to work with in adverse conditions, b) couple of bow shackles suitable ... c) couple of wire grips and spanner to suit, d) length of gash 1 x 19 wire from an old stay previous .....
 

mirabriani

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I can sympathize.

On a friends boat the forestay pulled out and the mast fell into the water. I had just previously noticed the helm
enthusiastically tighten the backstay. What happened next was interesting. there was a bit of shouting, one of the crew went below, I gave up trying to get an answer and dropped the anchor. A yard workboat appeared asking if we needed
help which the skipper refused. We eventually lifted the mast out with the help of the crew below (big chap) and motored to berth.

Amazingly, later the same year I had the a forestay unwind itself in the same spot on the river. Fortunately the wind was behind and the mast stayed up while we wound the screw back. (no locknuts) Relief
Learning all ze time!
Regards Briani
 

aitchw

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A lot depends on the the mast step design as to how much damage is done. My friend's 22' fin keeler has mast step which has bolt through two flanges either side of a block which is supposed to allow the mast to be raised with the foot as the pivot. If he had the same problem as you it would have done serious damage to a combination of the mast step/coachroof/mast foot. A tabernacle might have withstood the forces on a light air day but in a blow? Although only a small boat I'm glad mine is just a shallow tenon and the mast would fall over without ripping other fittings out etc. something I had not really thought about until reading your post so thanks provoking some thought on the subject.

Really glad you suffered no injuries and little damage. May we all enjoy such good fortune in adverse circumstances.
 

ghost

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sorry all,
in no way was I trying to belittle the situation, I was merley using common tounge ( with accompanying riased brows and gentle nodding - kinda pensive?) - oops-- now i've read that it sounds quite suggetsive-
I was implying that while its never a good thing to happen anytime, it was a result it happened then and not the week before for Tom. calm sea relaxed bunch as opposed to windy & lumpy cold & tired, a bobbing mast with wave exited sails attached will kebab with ease, urgh dont like to think about it.
 

kds

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If the inner stay ( fore-stay ? ) went - you would surely not want to go head to wind ?
20 seconds doesn't give time to do any of the things suggested so far !
Ken
 

1114C

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in hindsight the one thing we should not have done is go into wind as (and my physics is ropy so I could be wrong) but we lost the inner port side stay and with that we lost downward pressure - if we had kept going then the wind would provide the downward pressure giving us the crucial time to set up the spinnaker halyard as the temporary stay

I could be completely wrong and I have no intention of ever trying to find out again I do hope!!
 

ghost

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the sail cloth and the shrouds would hold it up , if you got furling gear then you must have a kite halyard clipped on somewhere, I've broken most bits on boats and took advice from some serious people - however each scenario is unique and warrants speedy assesment and reactions,
...................
 

bbg

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I appreciate your post about what happened, and I'm glad thre was no damage. I think an important way for all of us (at least me) to avoid or respond to incidents in the future is to learn from the experience of others. So with that in mind I offer the following thoughts for others to comment on.

I had always understood that if you lose a stay, the immediate reaction should be to put that stay to leeward. So if a shroud fails, you immediately tack or gybe (whichever is quicker given the point of sail you are on when the stay fails); if the forestay fails you immediately bear away to a broad reach or run, and if the backstay fails you immediately head up to close hauled and harden the mainsheet (so the combination of sheet and leech tension provides support).

The key phrase in all of the above is "immediately" - without trying to sort out any alternative support arrangements etc. Once the failed shroud is to leeward, then you can sort out any alternative support arrangements. I have been on a couple of boats that lost stays and this is what we did - and fortunately in neither case did we lose the mast.

Does anyone have any different thoughts / comments on this?
 
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