New to sailing, bought boat was told ready to sail. Question how far to go with pressure to reverse bend in mast? I've included a couple pictures to help with what I have to work with. Thanks for any suggestions. Jeff
Mast correction
- Thread starter JeffT56
- Start date
- Status
Ouch! That picture sent chills up my spine, I've got a 22 also and it looks just like my mast, I really hate to see that.
Don't know anything about straightening masts but it looks like a 'gentle' bend with no buckling - so I would think you could straighten it with pretty good results.
Looks like you've got a good idea - Obviously you want to apply just enough pressure to get it back straight and no more - don't need any more metal fatigue than necessary. Applying moderate heat to the bend may be a good idea if you don't get carried away.
In auto body repair dents are removed in the reverse of how they went in, using that logic if you knew how the bend got in the mast (was it rigged on the boat or a accident when it was down) you could rig up something to 'reverse' that force to pull it out - just a thought.
I'd also be careful of not deforming the sail track during the process.
It it still has a slight bend after the 'fix' that could probably be adjusted out with the standing rigging, but you'd want that to be pretty minor.
Keep us posted.
Somebody on the forum had a bent mast last year and was inquiring about how to straightening it out. Check through the archives. You may come across it.
Joe
Thanks, I'll keep you posted has how far is just far enough. The guy I bought the boat said a shroud had let go while he was sailing and that's how it bent? From the base of the tree I used a cable come along winch, and then to the mast a nylon web strap sling. I was able to make some correction with tension of the rigging, would like to give one more tweak to see if I can get it a little better. Jeff
- Status