That loud Noise you heard...

[paladin]

1988 hunter 265
I was out in some gusty winds that I thought had died down below 10mph making it safe to hoist my new/used 150 for a trial. The sail was working great until an hour or so later when the wind suddenly began gusting up around twenty or more and I was running for a lee shore. Before I could get maneuvered to douse the sails I heard a loud bang and saw the back stay go slack following a particularly violent gust. Looking up I saw the masthead light was missing along with the Windex.The masthead has apparently come loose from its front attachment point and tilted aft about 45 degrees with enough force to launch the two items mentioned. This left the main halyard somehow jammed and it took all my weight to pull down the main.

I'm hoping for the benefit any knowledge to help make this repair a little easier! To start, is it possible to unstep and restep the mast on this boat by hand? any suggestions on the best way? Next in line are questions on how the masthead is attached and what make be required to fix that. This boat has the tapered ZSPAR mast. Any other observations will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[svwalkabout]

26.5 Masthead

Stepping and un-stepping the mast will be a bit of a chore, especially if you try to do it on the water. I have a custom mast raising system that utilizes an A-Frame with the bases attached to the lower shrould attachments points on the chainplates that I use when the boat is on the trailer (I live in CO). The mast weighs close to 150 lbs (guess) and can get away from you in a hurry. I have stepped and un-stepped by hand almost losing the mast in the process. Not a lot of fun and I wouldn't recommend it. BTW, the mast is a ZSPAR / US Spar model 265R for your reference.

The masthead is held in to the end of the mast by pop-rivets and unfortunately, I would bet that you may find that the rivet holes may have been stripped. Hopefully, the rivets just sheared off, but you won't know until you get the mast down. A pair of Binoculars may help with diagnostics.

Do not try to go up the mast with a compromised masthead fitting.

 

[paladin]

Re: 26.5 Masthead

Thanks for the input.
I have raised and lowered mast on a 25 footer with boom crutch, line and blocks... believe that one had some sort of hinged step plate to make the process easier. Nothing to compare on this 265. You are very right about the potential for this to get out of hand quickly, some sort of lift needs to be used to keep this problem from becoming a worse one. You can be sure my mast climbing days are long past!
I am assuming the collar at the base somehow holds the mast down and must be removed first?
Regards