Video of an actual dismasting at sea

Back to bolt cutters, when I was a steel worker, I had a full set of record bolt cutters, the big ones could cut yellow hot 20 mm bar, but only around 10 mm cold. The blades would need to be changed every few hours if we were busy.
The small cutters, I think they were 601 would cut 5 mm cold bar quite easily depending on carbon content.
 
boatiebert said:
At least we know now where Santa goes for his Summer holidays.
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Yes but is Santa getting any. I'm hunted by the idea that she signed on as crew, walks and bends around in front of him all day and then pretends he shouldn't be effected by it, these days probably claiming his desire is "toxic masculinity". Like Oliver Reed in the old Castaway film.

While raking in the cash from men being effected enough to watch her videos.
 
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Athomson said:
Yes but is Santa getting any. I'm hunted by the idea that she signed on as crew, walks and bends around in front of him all day and then pretends he shouldn't be effected by it, these days probably claiming his desire is "toxic masculinity". Like Oliver Reed in the old Castaway film.
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My initial thoughts too.
Perhaps he swing's the other way, especially with a body like his
 
38mess said:
My initial thoughts too.
Perhaps he swing's the other way, especially with a body like his
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He didn't seem to be looking much in the engine repair video, suspiciously little... Unless he was on the verge of snapping. But then I knew a guy who was doing triathlons in his 70s, some do keep things up.
 
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Laminar Flow said:
Just to note: sailing under headsail alone is the worst possible load distribution on a rig.
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38mess said:
Back to bolt cutters, when I was a steel worker, I had a full set of record bolt cutters, the big ones could cut yellow hot 20 mm bar, but only around 10 mm cold. The blades would need to be changed every few hours if we were busy.
The small cutters, I think they were 601 would cut 5 mm cold bar quite easily depending on carbon content.
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Cutting rod rigging is another thing again. I used to carry a massive pair of Felco cutters with haundles about 1m long. As an experiment I tried cutting some scrap Nitronic rod about 8mm dia on my lawn, not a hope.
 
Athomson said:
He didn't seem to be looking much in the engine repair video, suspiciously little... Unless he was on the verge of snapping. But then I knew a guy who was doing triathlons in his 70s, some do keep things up.
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If you see photos of the original surfer or skateboarder generations, they tend to look like that too now. He's probably not that old.

What the vote on those shot gun cartridge cable cutters? (I'm only really interested because I think they could be adapted for repelling boarders as well).


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Laminar Flow said:
When sailing under headsail alone in strong winds the mast is loaded under intense compression over its longest unsupported length. This is compounded by the pumping action of the mast in a seaway, unsupported by the steadying influence of the main. This takes takes the mast out of compressive column and this adds a bending component which may quickly exceed the design envelope

We lost both of the twin headstays on a deckstepped mast mid Pacific and 1500 miles from the nearest land. A quick change of course to point the boat downwind kept the pressure forward until we could rig an emergency headstay with the anchor rode.
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Surely the backstay balances the forestay and the mainstays balance each other, thus the top of the mast is well supported provided all rigging sound and properly tightened. One might need mainsail to balance part of forestay load in a fractional rig as forestay then does not meet backstay, but I dont see the imbalance otherwise.

Are you saying that it is the oscillation of the mast undamped by the mainsail that is the issue? If so I dont see how the loading from the foresail affects the oscillation
 
oldmanofthehills said:
Surely the backstay balances the forestay and the mainstays balance each other, thus the top of the mast is well supported provided all rigging sound and properly tightened. One might need mainsail to balance part of forestay load in a fractional rig as forestay then does not meet backstay, but I dont see the imbalance otherwise.

Are you saying that it is the oscillation of the mast undamped by the mainsail that is the issue? If so I dont see how the loading from the foresail affects the oscillation
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The lateral pull of the headsail is at the masthead only and to looward. This causes the mast above the spreaders to bend in the same direction, there is after all some stretch in the upper shrouds.
This does two things: a) it reduces the shroud angle to the mast an thus increases compression loads.
b) it induces an s-shaped mast bend with the section below the spreaders bending to weather (particularly without the support of the main) and the upper to looward. Now the mast is subjected to both bending and compression loads.

Add to this the obsession of having a straight luff which puts further and extraordinary compression loads on the spar (easily done with a hydraulic tensioner), and now you have the mast pumping going to weather especially whithout the main set, the shroud angle shortening under load, a mast out of clumn and this can well lead to a sudden collapse of the rig.

Incorrect mast trim and poor sail handling are the major causes of mast failure.
 
Interesting to note our local hero Jon Sanders (11circums) sailed his boat for preference mainsail only in strong winds. He could not stand the fill and sag jerking of the jib on the masthead rig. he had doubled up shrouds for safety. (that on a tripple non stop circumnavigation.)
One other point of interest re battery powered tools getting wet. I seem to have foolishly dunked my battery drill. (Ryobi) in salt water. The battery dropped dead immediately. Complex electronics for charging fizzed with battery power. The drill itself no problems though I opened it up and Dried it plus WD.
The batteries them selves in the battery pack were OK 5x18650s. So if any risk of dunking take a spare battery pack. ol'will
 
Wow, that is a terrible video to watch. Strikes fears in me, considering how I recently sailed in a Force 6 totally overcanvassed. THIS was my biggest fear, internally I had this dialogue: "It will hold, these boats are build for rough conditions. It will hold" "But it is an old boat, what if something is not up to par? What if you missed some rust or a counterplate is cracked or some nuts are loose??" "It will be alright" "The forestay is shaking" "That's just because of the high wind and the waves" "Are we sure?"


So when I saw this video and it snapped on such a nice day I was really shocked. o.o

Regarding powertools - I, too, would hav eopted for bolt cutters. The risk of injury on a shakey boat is too high. Just one bob down a wave and gone is the finger. Doesn't happen so easily with manual tools.
 
A long time ago, I had a mast come down on a new 10m. Danish trimaran. It was, of course, night and still v. lumpy after a Near Gale. There were no cutters - just a pair of pliers and a manual impact tool, which I could use on the splitpins/cotter pins.

The owner didn't know if he was insured for where we were, so we got the sails and the rigging off and bagged, then managed to winch/recover the intact mast onto the side deck. It emerged later that no toggle had been fitted at the top of the headstay. The national agent for the brand, who had sold the boat to my friend just 6 weeks earlier, was a rigger by trade.
 
zoidberg said:
A long time ago, I had a mast come down on a new 10m. Danish trimaran. It was, of course, night and still v. lumpy after a Near Gale. There were no cutters - just a pair of pliers and a manual impact tool, which I could use on the splitpins/cotter pins.

The owner didn't know if he was insured for where we were, so we got the sails and the rigging off and bagged, then managed to winch/recover the intact mast onto the side deck. It emerged later that no toggle had been fitted at the top of the headstay. The national agent for the brand, who had sold the boat to my friend just 6 weeks earlier, was a rigger by trade.
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I think as long as the mast is intact that's gonna prevent the biggest costs. Was he insured in the end? Sounds like the builders had to pay it (which I think is only right, but you never know with insurance companies)
 
It happened right in the middle of the Irish Sea, following a Scottish Island Peaks Race. It was a black night. There's more....

Following a couple of hours of strenuous and well dodgy work, with the mast and gear secured on deck, I was knackered so went below to brew up. I must have nodded off, for I was awakened by a terrified scream from my 'master under god' up above. I scrambled into the unlit cockpit, heart pounding, to see passing close astern a huge sinister black shape..... which then circled around us.

"Wha... wh...." then the penny dropped. It was a large submarine, unlit but more or less surfaced, which was steering round us. We came to the view that they'd somehow observed us, an odd boat-shape stopped midway between Eire and Wales, and had decided to investigate. There was also the thought that we might be in some degree of distress....

We weren't - just 'rather inconvenienced' - but we didn't want them to feel the need to send a dinghy across to ask us. But how to communicate that to them? Our masthead VHF was useless - the coax cable had been cut, and the antenna was dipping in and out of the oggin on the end of a horizontal mast!

Then I realised.... and clambered onto the 'sugar scoop' stern, then conspicuously lifted the ensign on its varnished jackstaff ( yes, I know, but not my boat ) from its socket.... and slowly lowered it to the water in the time-honoured 'dipping to a warship'.

That did the trick! Immediately, she turned away and wound up her huge pumpjet, to disappear back into the darkness towards the far southern horizon.

It emerged later, following a courtesy 'letter of thanks' on a Plymouth Club's headed notepaper, that the boat was HMS Torbay, a Trafalgar class SSN.

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