1981 Hunter 22 broken mast

[Flakeypuff]

We just fractured the bottom of our mast tube lowering it. It was just a stupid mistake that has cost us dearly. This was the last step before putting it in the water. Weeks of repairs and cleaning down the drain.

Can anyone give us advice on what to do? Scrap the boat and sell it?

How much would a new mast cost? Can you even find one for such an old boat?

We are in a small mountain town in Colorado and there is not a sailboat repair place down the street.

Hope someone can help us salvage all our hard work.

Thanks!

 

[Doug J]

You have options.
- Scrapping the boat is one. But I wouldn't.
- You could shorten the mast just a little, and adjust the standing rigging, or have new made, possibly saving some of the old hardware. I would think shortening the mast by that small amount would likely not make any noticeable difference. If needed you could move the boom attachment up a little , etc.
- You might be able to sleeve that broken section of the mast.
- You could find an old but good replacement mast.

 

[vhoisington]

This should be repairable. Find someone in Gunnison who can weld aluminum and weld a band around the base. With the cut outs you had already for the halyards, the base wasn't very strong to begin with. Rember, the primary force on the mast here is compression. A band welded around the base will strengthen the whole thing, don't forget to leave Openings for the halyards and you should be good to go.

Good luck,

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

Flakeypuff;
I believe your mast was manufacturered by Kenyon Isomat which was in Charlotte. Long gone later became Charleston Spar and now Spar Craft. YOu might want to research their website. Better yet, there is a company that offers parts for the Keynon Isomat which has been referenced in the past on this site but cannot recall their name. Google it.
As a former dealer who primarily specialized in the trailerabe sailboats and was very much involved with a lot, looking at the foot of the mast, it is not repairable and welding is out of the question as the as the integrity of that section of the mast is unsafe. If you were going to sleeve it, you would need an identical piece for the outside as well as inside. That is not going to happen. Shortening is an option but it determines on how much distance the top of the jib and main were from the top as to where this is viable to shorten the mast. You could shorten the top of the sails. either way, you will have to shorten the rigging and there are companies like Norseman that offer studs that can work but make sure you know what you are doing.

There use to be a sailboat dealer in Colorado years ago but not sure if they are still in business. Call Catalina Yachts in Florida, Precision Boat Works in Florida and others if they have a dealer in your area or go on line to look at ads for used sailboats being sold by dealers (smaller ones) and so on to see if anyone is left that might have a used mast. If not, you may want to contact US Spars, Selden, Sparcraft, Dwyer. Not sure who else as many mast mfg.s are now gone. You may also want to google Sailboat Masts Used and there are some references such as Sailorman and others but make sure who you deal with googling that they are ligit.

 

[Dennis Kitchen]

That IS completely repairable if thats the only damage. Find a shop that can weld aluminum. Take the step with you so the repair can be aligned with the step installed. The cracks would be welded closed and an external sleeve or scab patch installed surrounding the damaged area and welded on the edges and rivets or rosette welds in the patch. Don't worry about heat treating after ward, the extra material will give you all the strength you need if done properly. You're at the bottom of the mast with mostly compression loads. Should be the most repairable place of all. Compare the cost of a proper repair to replacing the extrusion and installing all your old hardware on it. As an example, I just got an almost 29' Dwyer DM-500 section for just short of $1200.00. Your boat should use a little smaller section and length I would guess.
Don't panic; persevere!
Dennis

 

[Flakeypuff]

Thanks everyone with all the info. We are going to look at putting a sleeve on it before buying a new mast. We will let you know what happens!

Flakeypuff

 

[Tim Moylan]

I just purchased repair sleaves from US Spars in Gainsville, FL. I would contact them for assistance.

 

[sailnewbie]

As a welder I will tell you that is absolutely repairable, I wouldn't hesitate for a second to tig weld it and it'll be stronger than before

 

[isaksp00]

Just out of curiosity, are those large rectangular cutouts a stock feature - from Hunter? Seems like it would weaken the mast quite a bit, resulting in issues like you just had. If that is not stock, and you do find a way to sleeve or weld the broken bit, I'd think about sleeving the whole bottom section, totally closing off the big rectangular cutouts and running the halyards (I assume just two - main and jib?) through slots on each side a little higher up, also adding exit sheave fittings (I am not sure their exact name).

 

[sailnewbie]

No kidding, I just checked out pic again, structurally that can't be correct

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

several mast manufacturers had said if sleeving, you need to have the proper size inside and out to exactly fit the size of that particular mastand that came from reputable Manufactuers.

 

[Flakeypuff]

Found a fabricator to make a new mast foot and increase its height. This will allow us to cut off the damaged mast bottom and not loose any length. He will then use a plasma cutter to cut a new slot for the halyard blocks. He can make the new foot from stainless so should be strong enough. Seems like a good plan. The question is that we will need to pull all the lines out of the mast including the mast light wiring. How do you get the lines back into the mast?
Thanks for all the advice it has been an interesting dilemma. I will post how the fix goes.

 

[isaksp00]

Use a messenger line for each - either sew a line to the end of each halyard, or use a good size paper clip bent to sort of an s shape and stick each "hook" into the end of the halyard and it's messenger, then wind flexible tape around the seam. Then pull the halyard out, pulling the messenger back into the mast. Then reverse it to use the messenger to haul the halyard back in. Not sure you must remove each halyard though - you can prob. fish the lower ends through the new slots. Same for the wire.

Are you doing one exit slot on each side of the mast?

 

[Crazy Dave Condon]

When using a smaller line messenger always supply a little pressure when pulling to insure that the messenger line will not slip off the sheave and get stuck between the sheeve and mast