I just bought a Hunter 23.5 a few weeks ago. Today I noticed the mast is cracked where the spreader is attached. Can this be repaired? Where can I buy a new one? Thanks in advance!
Can a mast be repaired? If no, where can I buy a mast for my Hunter 23.5?
- Thread starter FWBpilot
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Any mast shop, or shop that welds aluminum (perhaps a crane or light pole repair facility) can fix the tear, probably stiffening the repair by using an inside sleeve in that section. That will require cutting the mast, but it should be stronger than ever, after the repair.
However, it might be cheaper to find a mast that has no boat. Good luck.
However, it might be cheaper to find a mast that has no boat. Good luck.
I had a comparable failure in my mast for the Mark 25, my first keel boat. I did have it welded. And it held for the remaining time I owned the boat. I'm not skilled in welding, and really don't know much about it, but other more knowledgeable people said you need a TIG welding machine which, I was told is basically not mobile. So I had to transport the mast to the welder - that's a ladder on top of the car. The weld was a few hundred dollars. When I got it back the experts who told me it had to go to the shop shared with me that the shop pooched the job. I have to admit that even to my inexpert eye it was pretty sloppy.
But what my mast and the one the OP depicted have in common is swept back spreaders. Straight spreaders put mostly compression on the mast which is well tolerated (Especially if there are compression sleeves installed). With the swept back spreaders there is tension on the forward end of the mounting plate, and compression on the aft end and likely some twist in-between. In the OP's case the spreader is basically ripping the spreader off the mast.
I think it's a tuning mistake. The rig was engineered to withstand those loads. Someone abused the program. In my boat's case it was likely the over use of the backstay tensioner.
But what my mast and the one the OP depicted have in common is swept back spreaders. Straight spreaders put mostly compression on the mast which is well tolerated (Especially if there are compression sleeves installed). With the swept back spreaders there is tension on the forward end of the mounting plate, and compression on the aft end and likely some twist in-between. In the OP's case the spreader is basically ripping the spreader off the mast.
I think it's a tuning mistake. The rig was engineered to withstand those loads. Someone abused the program. In my boat's case it was likely the over use of the backstay tensioner.
TIG welding (technically called GTAW) can't be done well with any kind of breeze, hence it is best done in a shop where air flow can be controlled. If done in the field, it should be done with shields that allow the control of the air flow while welding. Not typically a set-up that most GTAW welders are set up to do. I don't know what alloy your mast is, but I believe most are a 6061 alloy. Then there is the question of what temper, but it's likely a T6. If both assumptions are correct, you would want to use a 4043 filler. The welder will want to use either a 2% Cerium or one of the lanthanated electrodes. Lot's of assumptins here, but it's about the best I can do from far away.
dj
dj
I agree with @marcham Looking closely at the picture there are a few things to note.
1. It looks like the failure is not simply "a crack." The failure looks to be not only the longitudinal crack that is easy to see but it looks like the spreader was jammed rearward, causing a circumferential crack that can be seen on both sides of the spreader bracket. Then the spreader was pulled forward causing the longitudinal long crack. I wonder if the mast did not undergo cycling including an bend inversion causing the longitudinal crack since that area of the mast should be in compression, not in tension.
2. If you look closely you can see the halyard that is internal to the mast is visible, indicating that there is metal missing, not just a crack. This might indicate that this is some sort of fatigue failure which might compromise the metals in ways that could make welding a bad choice. Obviously @dLj knows a lot more about welding than most of us (more than me for sure) so maybe he can weigh in on this.
I can't imagine any competent welder who is at all worried about a weld in a high stress area and the liability that might result from a failure in the weld that would attempt to simply weld up the cracks. Replacement of the mast, when you take into account all the costs of moving the mast to a place with the equipment necessary to attempt a weld repair might be the better choice economically
1. It looks like the failure is not simply "a crack." The failure looks to be not only the longitudinal crack that is easy to see but it looks like the spreader was jammed rearward, causing a circumferential crack that can be seen on both sides of the spreader bracket. Then the spreader was pulled forward causing the longitudinal long crack. I wonder if the mast did not undergo cycling including an bend inversion causing the longitudinal crack since that area of the mast should be in compression, not in tension.
2. If you look closely you can see the halyard that is internal to the mast is visible, indicating that there is metal missing, not just a crack. This might indicate that this is some sort of fatigue failure which might compromise the metals in ways that could make welding a bad choice. Obviously @dLj knows a lot more about welding than most of us (more than me for sure) so maybe he can weigh in on this.
I can't imagine any competent welder who is at all worried about a weld in a high stress area and the liability that might result from a failure in the weld that would attempt to simply weld up the cracks. Replacement of the mast, when you take into account all the costs of moving the mast to a place with the equipment necessary to attempt a weld repair might be the better choice economically
My friend with a similar Hunter mast failure (for different reasons) said his insurance company just wrote off the whole boat because a new mast cost more than the entire old boat. If you want to keep the boat, look for free (aka ruined) boats that still have their mast.
That said, it CAN be repaired. Many masts are made in sections and sleeved together. This is usually done on very tall masts but technically you could get a new section and splice it together with two sleeves. This would probably be the most difficult and expensive approach.
I can't see any kind of rig tuning failure causing that type of damage. My guess would be the mast was dropped or fell on it's spreaders.
That said, it CAN be repaired. Many masts are made in sections and sleeved together. This is usually done on very tall masts but technically you could get a new section and splice it together with two sleeves. This would probably be the most difficult and expensive approach.
I can't see any kind of rig tuning failure causing that type of damage. My guess would be the mast was dropped or fell on it's spreaders.
Long shot, but IF.... you had a survey done and the spar passed as OK, then your insurer will likely pay the claim.
If repairing, I know of at least one major rigging company that fabricates an external reinforcing plate for failures around he spreaders. Then it's riveted on. Given the average market price for your size boat such a repair might be more than you paid for it.
(Probably not you, but sometimes buyers of smaller/cheaper/used sailboats do not initially understand that the cost of a new spar is more than they may have paid for their entire boat. i.e. prices of these parts are the same, totally unrelated to the market price of the vessel.)
OTOH, if you really like the boat and are keeping it for a decade, then repairs and upgrades are just part of the ownership experience; after all sailboats are not an investment with an expected monetary return. "Fun" is where the value is, and a pocket cruiser can provide oodles of it! Good luck!
Also.... since you asked the question with no other background info, can we assume that you have already used the boat? Because if it is now stored exactly as it was when sold to you, should we assume that when you asked for your money back the seller refused?
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It's been my experience that riggers are a very conservative lot and prefer to have all new and not deal with repairs. I can't really blame them, repairs are pretty complicated and if you are putting your name on it - that's a hard one to endorse...
We are all too far away to know how and why this happened. There is a lot of work in fixing this no matter how one goes about it. For sure the easiest way is to find an inexpensive replacement mast - if that's even possible. The real question is how much whatever fix is chosen will cost. this is an inexpensive boat. The cost of a new mast is very likely (as others have noted) more than the value of the boat.
Whether or not it's a fatigue failure or an accident or some combination - from here we can't tell. One would have to look at the mast and assess if a weld repair or sleaving or some combination would be economically feasible. A typical technique when dealing with cracks like these is to drill a hole at the end of each crack. This establishes stress relief at the crack tip during welding and makes it a lot easier to see while welding when you've reached the end of one of your weld paths.
If an inexpensive mast can be found, that would be the best solution. But with the costs of masts - you might have a pretty long runway before you hit that price point. You also have to ship that new mast from where you find it to your boat...
dj
This is a great point!Also.... since you asked the question with no other background info, can we assume that you have already used the boat? Because if it is now stored exactly as it was when sold to you, should we assume that when you asked for your money back the seller refused?
dj
I will try to find a shop today and send pictures. I'm in North-west Florida so I don't know where is the nearest shop to me.
Thanks shemadr! This gives me HOPE it can be repaired. I'm sure repairing it will cost less than a new mast.
You are correct. Here is a better picture showing the crack. I only paid $4000 for the boat and it's in great shape (except for the mast). BTW... about how much is a new mast? Have you heard of a "Spreader Rebuild kit"? :
https://shop.hunterowners.com/hp/part.php?m=23.5&c=6&p=52934
-Adrian
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No, I haven't put the boat in the water. I bought it a few weeks ago for $4000. Similar boats were For Sale online for $6000-$7000. It's in great shape (except for the mast). I plan to put it in the water in April or May so I have two months to repair the mast of replace it with a new one. It's made by Z-Spars, now US-Spars. This weekend I put the mast up for the first time. I want to get good at putting the mast up and back down before I put it in the water. Thanks for the advice.Long shot, but IF.... you had a survey done and the spar passed as OK, then your insurer will likely pay the claim.
If repairing, I know of at least one major rigging company that fabricates an external reinforcing plate for failures around he spreaders. Then it's riveted on. Given the average market price for your size boat such a repair might be more than you paid for it.
(Probably not you, but sometimes buyers of smaller/cheaper/used sailboats do not initially understand that the cost of a new spar is more than they may have paid for their entire boat. i.e. prices of these parts are the same, totally unrelated to the market price of the vessel.)
OTOH, if you really like the boat and are keeping it for a decade, then repairs and upgrades are just part of the ownership experience; after all sailboats are not an investment with an expected monetary return. "Fun" is where the value is, and a pocket cruiser can provide oodles of it! Good luck!
Also.... since you asked the question with no other background info, can we assume that you have already used the boat? Because if it is now stored exactly as it was when sold to you, should we assume that when you asked for your money back the seller refused?
jssailem
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