On Sunday sailing up the harbour in 10 knot winds flying a small kite, my mast snapped in two.
Fortuneately it fell forward and into the water. No one was hurt.
I am now in the process of selecting someone to replace the mast and associated work.
Has anyone had any experience recently replacing their mast in the greater sydney area?
Who would they recommend?

Joe Walsh comes to mind
Heard good things on seabreeze

Yes so have I, but I have sent him two emails with photos and he has not replied.
I will ring today.
Any comments about Cammeray Marina or TempoSpars at Manly?

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Bundeenaboy said..
On Sunday sailing up the harbour in 10 knot winds flying a small kite, my mast snapped in two.
Fortuneately it fell forward and into the water. No one was hurt.
I am now in the process of selecting someone to replace the mast and associated work.
Has anyone had any experience recently replacing their mast in the greater sydney area?
Who would they recommend?

The answer will depend on what sort of boat we are talking about. Some details on your bio would help.

Tempo Spars are under the Anzac bridge these days. My preference is Rigtech at Newport, but they are at the top end of the price scale.

We nearly had the same problem when that '10 knot' SE wind shift came through on Sunday.

Paul Minter at tarren point

Im currently overhauling my mast myself. Very satisfying and giving me a great understanding of how it all works. If budget allows you could get someone to do the whole job. If it were me id strip the mast of all fittings if replacing it. You can possibly get that mast welded for 100 bucks with an alloy sleeve in for strength. I did this last year to my boom and it was stronger than ever. Mast could be sketchy to do this but i reckon it would work and be fine. Depends what you plan to do, what the boats worth. If it's just a harbour boat then id go cheap.
Sorry to hear about this. Its a sailors nightmare!

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Bundeenaboy said..
On Sunday sailing up the harbour in 10 knot winds flying a small kite, my mast snapped in two.
Fortuneately it fell forward and into the water. No one was hurt.
I am now in the process of selecting someone to replace the mast and associated work.
Has anyone had any experience recently replacing their mast in the greater sydney area?
Who would they recommend?

As someone asked, what sort of boat?

I would call Chris Somers at Alyacht Spars in Brisbane. They are VERY experienced and he could help you do it yourself or point you towards a good rigger in your area

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Sectorsteve said..
Im currently overhauling my mast myself. Very satisfying and giving me a great understanding of how it all works. If budget allows you could get someone to do the whole job. If it were me id strip the mast of all fittings if replacing it. You can possibly get that mast welded for 100 bucks with an alloy sleeve in for strength. I did this last year to my boom and it was stronger than ever. Mast could be sketchy to do this but i reckon it would work and be fine. Depends what you plan to do, what the boats worth. If it's just a harbour boat then id go cheap.
Sorry to hear about this. Its a sailors nightmare!

If you are a bit hands on I would strip the broken mast & get a new blank from Whale Spars

www.whalespars.com/#

on the Central Coast or they will build you a new one if you'd rather go that way.

Depending on the class of boat and also looking at where the boat is kept, look at the following.

Tempo Spars
Sheerline Spars
Whale Spars
All Yacht Spars

All of these do the actual sections as well as the rigging.

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Bundeenaboy said..
On Sunday sailing up the harbour in 10 knot winds flying a small kite, my mast snapped in two.

Ouch! I'd be curious to know why it happened just from a learning point of view. 10knts is not alot and under a small spinnaker too. There are always a few masts in Gumtree/Ebay but condition unknown and then it needs to fit your boat. Then there is the problem of transporting it which seems to be the major cost factor...

The boat was my new Swarbrick S80 and we were having a great first day with it. Ouch.

It broke cleanly at the spreaders. One explanation is that it may have been the result of 'galvanic corrosion'









caused by the spreaders metal (stainless steel) in contact with the aluminium mast.
Quote " If they are not insulated from each other, it is only a matter of time before it eats through the mast"

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rumblefish said..

As someone asked, what sort of boat?

I would call Chris Somers at Alyacht Spars in Brisbane. They are VERY experienced and he could help you do it yourself or point you towards a good rigger in your area

+ 1 for Alyacht Spars. I have only ever spoken with Joel there over the phone and he has always been very helpful. They will be making my new standing rigging.

Looking at the break it may be able to be repaired with a sleeve. The problem could have been caused by not enough rig tension. This is why I have a rigger check my rig every 12 months. The joys of owning a boat

lucky you have a very common yacht, any good mast maker will have all that on file

A rigger checked mine a week ago

Yep, I'd look at repairing it with a sleeve, might need to shorten it an inch or two though to clean up where the break occurred.

my mast has a sleeve joint and that was as original from selden.

I wouldn't entertain joining. It's where the mast wants to bend fwd due to spreader loads on a swept rig and it would change the way the mast bent, giving a stiff point just where you don't want it.

This link may help

s80.org/maintenance-repairs/

I've had dealings with Riggtech and they do a thorough job, but Joe Walsh does too.

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Bundeenaboy said..
A rigger checked mine a week ago

I would be asking that same rigger why this happened and was it something he missed.

I feel your pain and this is my worst nightmare! I would get it repaired instead of going with a brand new mast, you unfortunately are going to massively overcapitalise by putting a new mast in.

My vote would be drive down (he never answers his phone) and see Joe Walsh with the photos and ask him for some practical advice, I have approached him with a similar problem before on a boat I was looking at buying and he generally will give you good practical advice. Joe strikes me as the type of bloke that wont see this as an opportunity to milk you dry, the only thing is you will have to wait awhile for him to fix it as generally he is busy especially in the lead up to xmas. Don't give him the solution just ask him what would you do to fix this? I generally find it is better just to let these guys come to their own opinions rather than trying to jam a whole lot of ideas you read on the internet down their throat as you will just come across as an annoying customer and they will charge you more or blow you off.


The other thing I was thinking of is I know the owner of a J24 that had a new stick put on it about 10 years ago but has never been sailed, would a mast off a J24 fit?

The final option would be see what you can sell it for as is, sometimes as hard as it is its better just to start fresh, unlikely but maybe someone will buy it for only a few grand less than you paid for it, stranger things have happened. You have to look at the total cost of ownership and spending 10-15k on a new mast is is going to leave you with a 30k s80 that would still only sell for a couple of grand more than you paid.