Snap, crackle, and pop

[Dave]

Saw it happen twice

IF your rig stays up you should head up and drop all the sails as soon as possible, evaluate the situation and make jury-rig repairs if possible.HOWEVER:A neighboring boat in my harbor had an upper spreader fail on a 3-spreader rig with a carbon fiber mast it 8 - 10 kts breeze. The entire rig came down in seconds and had to be cut away.Another boat (sistership to mine- Cat38) had an upper shroud fail at the lower swadge. The mast immediately folded over on itself at the connection point of the lower shrouds. There is SOOOO much synergy and balanced tension on a properly tuned rig that it seems to me that losing a shroud will often result in a failed rig.

 

[John Howitt]

adrenalin rush

retrieving a loose inner stay in high seas in the dark without getting whackedI now know I can do it.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Definition of terms

"...would instantly release the main sheet and the jib sheet. then come abuot into irons..."How do you do THAT?

 

[sailnaked]

Snapped Shroud

Nothing drastic. I still have two. Come into the wind and release the sheets. Attach my spare halyard to the genoa track cleat. Put in a reef, furl the genoa, open a beer and sneak home.

 

[Mike]

Good Luck!

If the mast is deck stepped - the usual procedure follows - "...what the heck was that?...Oh crap!...thats the mast going over the side!" if you are lucky enough to asses the situation quickly enough you must tack immediately onto the other board or the rig will go bye bye! With a keel stepped mast you may have a few more seconds (or minutes if it is a very heavy section)to contemplate what has happened!Trying to go into irons or head to wind will not work (as many of you have said the boat will be hobby horsing and the mast will be pumping like crazy) - you must get onto the other board asap to support the mast as the former leeward shrouds are still firmly attached. Then you use the halyards to support the mast and head for home.As for the comments about carrying wire cutters and other gear - if you don't carry wire cutters and the appropriate tools to get rid of a mast - good luck! If there is any kind of a sea running you need to get rid of the mast asap otherwise you risk a total loss of your boat. Trying to disassemble turnbuckles, and clevis pins when a boat is rolling from gunwale to ganwale is no fun - and it will be rolling - w/o a mast a sailboat has that big pendulaum under the hull and as most masts come down in heavy air (you do go out and sail in heavy air don't you??) there will usually be some kind of a sea running.As for marking and saving the rig - I might try it where I sail as the waters are not much more than 40 feet deep or so but much deeper and I don't know if it would be worth it - sink the rig and call your insurance broker - safety is the issue - with a mast pounding against the side of the boat gouging great huge chunks of glass out may be better avoided - but if you can safely save gear off of it and the seas aren't horribly bad - go for it!As for the wire cutters - when you buy some make sure you ensure they will cut the size of wire you have for standing rigging on your boat - practice on some scrap stuff (you can usually go to a local boat yard and find some in the dumpster or pester a local rigger for some) as I've seen some wire cutters on boats that would ahve a tough time going through 10 gauge copper wire let alone through 5/32" SS 1 x 19!Oh well - my pennys worth!Mike

 

[CharlieCobra]

Having dropped a mast recently, I can tell

ya it ain't fun, even with a light rig like the V-21 has. On "Oh Joy", I have a big set of cutters that WILL cut through the rig.

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Been There, Done That

Hit by strong gust on Fremont Lake, that happened on my C22 several years ago. Fortunately I had lots of "sea" room and was upwind from home port, so tacked, lowered main and jib, raised a small storm jib and sailed home. "Sylvan" was controllable with just the storm jib, so went for it, otherwise would have motored home. There phoned in an order for a new shroud from Catalina Direct which I installed and lived to sail many another day! RK

 

[Jeff]

easy

(assuming other shroud(s) are still intact on the failing side)The mast should stay erect with one less shroud in conditions this light.Drop sailstart motorget to portRepair shroudInspect remaining rigging for hideously neglected gear that will fail in an 8 knot wind. -or- sell boat and purchase boat built for sailing.

 

[Peter]

wire rope clamps

I'll assume it's more than just myself on board...One of the spare parts kept on board is a length of wire, cutters for the wire, and several wire rope clamps. Tack. Send a man up in the boatswains chair with 1-1.5 feet of wire, the clamps, and the appropriate tools. Clamp the "splice" together, preferably with 2 clamps on each side of the break. In the absence of cable clamps, well practiced round lashings will do it. This happened once, albeit 4 feet above deck. I still have the pics on a disk somewhere that I'll try to find and post. It's not easy aloft, but, like Fred, I've been there in force 5 winds, with the one difference that I monkeyed up running backstays.

 

[higgs]

Tack

Immediately

 

[sand sailor]

i have a boat similar to ROSSes

and i agree with him if it were an upper shroud i would loosen the port shroud to relieve the tension on the mast let out the sails and carry on to the closest marina (been there done that)thats light wind on a stout rig and its not like rear stay broke (been there done that too)some of us don't reef in 30 knots we think about setting the spinn

 

[Ctskip]

go for the empty halyard, secure to the deck

Use the first halyard thats free to secure the mast,drop the sails, then start your repairs or return home for repairs. Thats a no brainer. Keep it up,  Ctskip