Most of us have never experienced it, but I'm interested in hearing from forum members who have. If you were dismasted, what caused it, how did you cope with the situation, what should you have done differently, what precautions do you take now? Perhaps the rest of us can learn from your experience. Thanks.
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Brian
Sure did
On a Hobie 16 on Big Bear Lake, California, during a race. It was really a case of differed maintainance (a rotted should let go). We were on a reach and flying a hull when it went. It was very loud and the hull slammed back to the water. We stared at each other for about one second then the rig hit the water with great force. We stoped, secured and diassembled the rig. It was very safe as the safety boat was right on us, but weird none the less.
On a Hobie 16 on Big Bear Lake, California, during a race. It was really a case of differed maintainance (a rotted should let go). We were on a reach and flying a hull when it went. It was very loud and the hull slammed back to the water. We stared at each other for about one second then the rig hit the water with great force. We stoped, secured and diassembled the rig. It was very safe as the safety boat was right on us, but weird none the less.
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Rob
I can say sheepishly..YES
It was 1983,,,,,I was in college and living in Newport RI,,,,sailing Meca.....I was working as a hotel Fixit guy..something broke I fixed it. Well i didnt have any$ at the time being a struggling college student that barly had enough to by a meal but allways a six pack however no funds for a boat or keeping one in Newport harbor....But, my boss did. it was a 26' (dont remember the make) deck stepped mast centerboard sloop. He traveled alot and we maid a deal...Id keep it clean and kept up at the price of free sail time. One day he calls me up and asks if I would take 2 of his buddies out for a sail. I said sure. they wanted to sail over to Narragansett. the day started off with a slight haze...and since I didnt expect to be out long and a nieve college kid I didnt check the weather.....So I asked Paul (guy 1) what the weather was..he said fog in morning burning off to sunny day...excellent. We motor out the harbor...1983 Newport RI?????remember AMERICAS CUP RACE. So we are motoring with a ton of boats going out to watch the trials,,,, then we see the tenders and a great pass by of Austrailia 2 Out of harbor we rail sail and start out exit south of the bay......nice breeze about 10-15..we have full main and genny.....as we turn fort adams the swells start to roll in. i notice that the mast is starting to move port to starboard with each crash through the waves......we are making great time and passing some of the onlookers......that morning mist starts to turn thick and it starts to rain....so much for sunny.......we continue out and think we are experiencing a thrill ride with rail in water......as I turn and notice the mast top move from port to starboard then notice slack in the shrouds...tought then slack...and snap with each swell we slam through...the national geographic explorer theam racing in my head......Then you guessed it..I heard a snap of metal and the mast with full genny and main came falling over deck and into the water port side. Happened so quick didnt know what was going on.....there was one guy on the bow another on the cabin top and me at the helm.......First thing I did was to start the engine and regain control....second we begain pulling everything back onto the deck of the boat.....shrouds,,sails mast...took awhile....and some strenghth sails are very heavy wet.....we lashed everything back on deck.....and turned around back into port with our tails between our legs......We motored to a little street called queen annes pier..a public dock and tied her up for the night. Next day me and my 2 new friends went back to the boat and surveyed the damage....Turnes out we snapped a pin holding the starbord shroud to the deck fitting....$6.00 part.....we re rigged everything Then I called the owner..Frank Ive got some good news and some bad news.....well needless to say I didnt sail that boat again. Since then Ive learned many lessons...check your rig, weather, reduce sail early..all to name a few. I just thank God no one was hurt.....but what a thrill!
It was 1983,,,,,I was in college and living in Newport RI,,,,sailing Meca.....I was working as a hotel Fixit guy..something broke I fixed it. Well i didnt have any$ at the time being a struggling college student that barly had enough to by a meal but allways a six pack however no funds for a boat or keeping one in Newport harbor....But, my boss did. it was a 26' (dont remember the make) deck stepped mast centerboard sloop. He traveled alot and we maid a deal...Id keep it clean and kept up at the price of free sail time. One day he calls me up and asks if I would take 2 of his buddies out for a sail. I said sure. they wanted to sail over to Narragansett. the day started off with a slight haze...and since I didnt expect to be out long and a nieve college kid I didnt check the weather.....So I asked Paul (guy 1) what the weather was..he said fog in morning burning off to sunny day...excellent. We motor out the harbor...1983 Newport RI?????remember AMERICAS CUP RACE. So we are motoring with a ton of boats going out to watch the trials,,,, then we see the tenders and a great pass by of Austrailia 2 Out of harbor we rail sail and start out exit south of the bay......nice breeze about 10-15..we have full main and genny.....as we turn fort adams the swells start to roll in. i notice that the mast is starting to move port to starboard with each crash through the waves......we are making great time and passing some of the onlookers......that morning mist starts to turn thick and it starts to rain....so much for sunny.......we continue out and think we are experiencing a thrill ride with rail in water......as I turn and notice the mast top move from port to starboard then notice slack in the shrouds...tought then slack...and snap with each swell we slam through...the national geographic explorer theam racing in my head......Then you guessed it..I heard a snap of metal and the mast with full genny and main came falling over deck and into the water port side. Happened so quick didnt know what was going on.....there was one guy on the bow another on the cabin top and me at the helm.......First thing I did was to start the engine and regain control....second we begain pulling everything back onto the deck of the boat.....shrouds,,sails mast...took awhile....and some strenghth sails are very heavy wet.....we lashed everything back on deck.....and turned around back into port with our tails between our legs......We motored to a little street called queen annes pier..a public dock and tied her up for the night. Next day me and my 2 new friends went back to the boat and surveyed the damage....Turnes out we snapped a pin holding the starbord shroud to the deck fitting....$6.00 part.....we re rigged everything Then I called the owner..Frank Ive got some good news and some bad news.....well needless to say I didnt sail that boat again. Since then Ive learned many lessons...check your rig, weather, reduce sail early..all to name a few. I just thank God no one was hurt.....but what a thrill!
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Jim Bessinger
Still not sure
Sailing in 25 knot breeze in a 1990 H30 on a starboard tack, changed to a port tack and almost imediatly it sounded like a 30-06 and the mast snaped just above the lower spreader. The park police and several other sailors pitched in. While in the water we removed the sails and all the rigging, less the bent furling assy. Motored back to the dock. All the shrouds were recovered, no failure there. The port lower spreador was not recovered. The owner of the marina thought it might have been metal fatique from welding the spreader base to the mast during manufacure. The Hunter dealer doing the repair thought the aluminum base failed. Another thought the spreader failed. I was sparing with a Hunter V32 which was behind me and he didn't see anything hapen prior to the mast breaking. I now frequently during a sail check to see if anything has come loose. Wish it never happened as the replacement mast from rigrite is not as good as the origional. The grove for the sail slugs is the same size as my previiouse Catalina 22, which caused me to repalce all the slugs, which frequently break. The Gate keeper doesn't fit properly and I had one custion made to fit the opening which allows the slugs to slide by after reefing. I also must be the only person in the world that liked my continouse line drive furler. I am not crazy about the schaffer unit. Jim Bessinger
Sailing in 25 knot breeze in a 1990 H30 on a starboard tack, changed to a port tack and almost imediatly it sounded like a 30-06 and the mast snaped just above the lower spreader. The park police and several other sailors pitched in. While in the water we removed the sails and all the rigging, less the bent furling assy. Motored back to the dock. All the shrouds were recovered, no failure there. The port lower spreador was not recovered. The owner of the marina thought it might have been metal fatique from welding the spreader base to the mast during manufacure. The Hunter dealer doing the repair thought the aluminum base failed. Another thought the spreader failed. I was sparing with a Hunter V32 which was behind me and he didn't see anything hapen prior to the mast breaking. I now frequently during a sail check to see if anything has come loose. Wish it never happened as the replacement mast from rigrite is not as good as the origional. The grove for the sail slugs is the same size as my previiouse Catalina 22, which caused me to repalce all the slugs, which frequently break. The Gate keeper doesn't fit properly and I had one custion made to fit the opening which allows the slugs to slide by after reefing. I also must be the only person in the world that liked my continouse line drive furler. I am not crazy about the schaffer unit. Jim Bessinger
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Neil
unprepared
As a grad student, I was regular crew on a 44' masthead rigged Bruce Farr boat in New Zealand. It was originally built ('extra-sturdy') for off-shore racing (Sydney-Hobart), but the second owner (our skipper) was tired of being underpowered in lighter air harbor racing (Auckland harbor) so he got a new taller mast (mains'l area increased by 15%) and sails. About the 4th or 5th time out under the new rig, the breeze was around 20 kt with gusts to about 25 kt. Under the 'old' rig we would have been in our element, eating the lunches of all the flash new light displacement boats, and we treated the day accordingly - put it all up and sit on the 'high side'. On a beam reach, with our full-size spinnaker up, an extra-strong gust hit us and knocked us down (the top 1/3 of mast was submerged). We were surprised, to say tyhe least (I wish I had a photo of the skipper/owner's face as he stood up to his knees in water, still holding the wheel. Well, we reacted too slowly, and the mast broke at the bottom spreader before the boat righted itself. Sitting around that night (after a few rounds of stress-relieving rum), we all discussed how we could recover more quickly in a future knockdown under spinnaker (assuming we couldn't prevent it by making better sail selections, etc). Our conclusion was that we should release the spinaker halyard asap. The mast was slieved and rerigged two weeks later. On the very first outing after that, we had similar conditions (a bit heavier air), and ... you guessed it ... we broached and were knocked down again. However, this time the mastman immediately released the spinaker halyard and she came up immediately, with no damage - except to our pride. After that race, we decided we had gathered enough data to conclude that the boat we'd known for several years as a heavy air boat had been converted to a light air boat, and we'd better treat it as such!
As a grad student, I was regular crew on a 44' masthead rigged Bruce Farr boat in New Zealand. It was originally built ('extra-sturdy') for off-shore racing (Sydney-Hobart), but the second owner (our skipper) was tired of being underpowered in lighter air harbor racing (Auckland harbor) so he got a new taller mast (mains'l area increased by 15%) and sails. About the 4th or 5th time out under the new rig, the breeze was around 20 kt with gusts to about 25 kt. Under the 'old' rig we would have been in our element, eating the lunches of all the flash new light displacement boats, and we treated the day accordingly - put it all up and sit on the 'high side'. On a beam reach, with our full-size spinnaker up, an extra-strong gust hit us and knocked us down (the top 1/3 of mast was submerged). We were surprised, to say tyhe least (I wish I had a photo of the skipper/owner's face as he stood up to his knees in water, still holding the wheel. Well, we reacted too slowly, and the mast broke at the bottom spreader before the boat righted itself. Sitting around that night (after a few rounds of stress-relieving rum), we all discussed how we could recover more quickly in a future knockdown under spinnaker (assuming we couldn't prevent it by making better sail selections, etc). Our conclusion was that we should release the spinaker halyard asap. The mast was slieved and rerigged two weeks later. On the very first outing after that, we had similar conditions (a bit heavier air), and ... you guessed it ... we broached and were knocked down again. However, this time the mastman immediately released the spinaker halyard and she came up immediately, with no damage - except to our pride. After that race, we decided we had gathered enough data to conclude that the boat we'd known for several years as a heavy air boat had been converted to a light air boat, and we'd better treat it as such!
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Michael O'
My Brother's Story
Okay, so it's my story, but my Bro' would likely have a different recollection of the details. I was crewing his H31 in a club race regatta with about 25-30 boats heading for the line in about 25 knots. As we got to the line, the boat on port got rounded up into us, whacking us right on the chainplates. My brother yelled a protest of course, and also noticed a different "feel" in the rig. He was worried, but didn't say anything as we went charging off on starboard tack. On our first tack, the main slammed over and brought the mast down with it - yeah, as the previous writer noted, it sounded like a 30-06 going off on deck! My recollection is that the mast separated about 6 feet above deck. I was in the cockpit with the mainsheet trimmer, and the mast came down right across where we had been standing. When other boats said they were surprised not to see any blood on deck, we realized how incredibly fortunate we were! We fished the rigging up, managed to get the mainsail off and cut a shroud or two, and made the mast fast to the hull so we could get in. It took all winter for my brother to get a new mast delivered to KC, MO. But since the offending boat that bashed our chainplates was skippered by his insurance agent (!) he had no problem getting it paid for! Michael O'
Okay, so it's my story, but my Bro' would likely have a different recollection of the details. I was crewing his H31 in a club race regatta with about 25-30 boats heading for the line in about 25 knots. As we got to the line, the boat on port got rounded up into us, whacking us right on the chainplates. My brother yelled a protest of course, and also noticed a different "feel" in the rig. He was worried, but didn't say anything as we went charging off on starboard tack. On our first tack, the main slammed over and brought the mast down with it - yeah, as the previous writer noted, it sounded like a 30-06 going off on deck! My recollection is that the mast separated about 6 feet above deck. I was in the cockpit with the mainsheet trimmer, and the mast came down right across where we had been standing. When other boats said they were surprised not to see any blood on deck, we realized how incredibly fortunate we were! We fished the rigging up, managed to get the mainsail off and cut a shroud or two, and made the mast fast to the hull so we could get in. It took all winter for my brother to get a new mast delivered to KC, MO. But since the offending boat that bashed our chainplates was skippered by his insurance agent (!) he had no problem getting it paid for! Michael O'
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Alice C.
dismasted while racing
In 1980, in the first big race in our new Metalmast 30, we were dismasted in a big northwest wind. We were very close to the windward mark,pushing the boat, unwilling to reef the main before heading off the wind, when we heard a very loud bang and then on a newly upright boat, soft swearing. We were in second place and gaining on the lead boat when it happened. A compression failure at the spreaders caused it. Curiously, after we determined no one had been hurt, all we cared about was having to retire from another exciting race on Lake Champlain. The mast was sleeved and riveted and the boat raced again many times in heavy air without incident. Now when we sail our 37.5, even in races, we hesitate to flog the main-an important point of caution for all. Alice C.
In 1980, in the first big race in our new Metalmast 30, we were dismasted in a big northwest wind. We were very close to the windward mark,pushing the boat, unwilling to reef the main before heading off the wind, when we heard a very loud bang and then on a newly upright boat, soft swearing. We were in second place and gaining on the lead boat when it happened. A compression failure at the spreaders caused it. Curiously, after we determined no one had been hurt, all we cared about was having to retire from another exciting race on Lake Champlain. The mast was sleeved and riveted and the boat raced again many times in heavy air without incident. Now when we sail our 37.5, even in races, we hesitate to flog the main-an important point of caution for all. Alice C.
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Tom Monroe
during a race/storm
1st leg of Tri-State race (Chicago to St. Joe Friday night of labor day weekend) many years ago, stormy all night, eight ft waves, working jib and reefed main, waves over deck pretty routinely. Starboard tack all night. At dawn, we were south of St. Joe so came about to beat back up to the finish line. As we came about, the boat whipped on the top of a wave and the spreader fractured. Mast came down at the spreaders, and it was MUCH loader than the 30-06. Total instant chaos. For you that have not experienced it, the motion instantly becomes that of a boat sitting still in the water in a storm, with no sails to damp the motion. No danger of holing the hull, so just tied everything down as best we could. THIS IS IMPORTANT ... we checked and doubled checked all the lines to be SURE nothing was going to foul the rudder or prop. As all this happened, the weather worstened significantly. Powered in. Just glad it didn't happen an hour earlier in the dark. Sailer's corollary to Murphy's law ... if anything can happen, it will, and will happen at night, and be followed by the worst weather on the trip. Oh ... we didn't have bolt cutters to cut away the rigging. If the mast had fractured below the spreaders, and everything would be banging against the hull, we would have been in trouble. Tom Monroe Carlyle Lake
1st leg of Tri-State race (Chicago to St. Joe Friday night of labor day weekend) many years ago, stormy all night, eight ft waves, working jib and reefed main, waves over deck pretty routinely. Starboard tack all night. At dawn, we were south of St. Joe so came about to beat back up to the finish line. As we came about, the boat whipped on the top of a wave and the spreader fractured. Mast came down at the spreaders, and it was MUCH loader than the 30-06. Total instant chaos. For you that have not experienced it, the motion instantly becomes that of a boat sitting still in the water in a storm, with no sails to damp the motion. No danger of holing the hull, so just tied everything down as best we could. THIS IS IMPORTANT ... we checked and doubled checked all the lines to be SURE nothing was going to foul the rudder or prop. As all this happened, the weather worstened significantly. Powered in. Just glad it didn't happen an hour earlier in the dark. Sailer's corollary to Murphy's law ... if anything can happen, it will, and will happen at night, and be followed by the worst weather on the trip. Oh ... we didn't have bolt cutters to cut away the rigging. If the mast had fractured below the spreaders, and everything would be banging against the hull, we would have been in trouble. Tom Monroe Carlyle Lake
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