Brains trust. Today i broke may mast, well fractured it. As you can see by the pics do you think it's cactus? Should i ditch it or do you think it might be ok? It's a NP X6 50% carbon

Backstory: i was desperate for a sail and i rigged in a hurry because i had little time, didn't check the mast join and went out. There were red flags but i didn't properly investigate

I wonder if you could cut off around 100mm? Would the feral still fit in? You could bandage it but then you'd have a bulge.

That would be cool with a wrap - won't be good for full wave use but will salvage it

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decrepit said..
I wonder if you could cut off around 100mm? Would the feral still fit in? You could bandage it but then you'd have a bulge.

I have done that in the past - I had a 450cm mast that is now 447.5. The feral wont fit, but a couple (read that as like three and a bit) strokes of sandpaper, and it should fit ok. That said, I dont trust that mast for anything except low-impact sailing.

Make sure to cut off enough so that *no* stressed fibres are visible - based on that pic, I'd go at least 70mm (probably 80mm).

[ When will people learn that $3 worth of gaff tape, solves everything... ?! ]

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mathew said..

decrepit said..
I wonder if you could cut off around 100mm? Would the feral still fit in? You could bandage it but then you'd have a bulge.

I have done that in the past - I had a 450cm mast that is now 447.5. The feral wont fit, but a couple (read that as like three and a bit) strokes of sandpaper, and it should fit ok. That said, I dont trust that mast for anything except low-impact sailing.

Make sure to cut off enough so that *no* stressed fibres are visible - based on that pic, I'd go at least 70mm (probably 80mm).

[ When will people learn that $3 worth of gaff tape, solves everything... ?! ]

Sad to say that i did have tape on the box but usually only use it for when i have to rig in the sand. It did cross my mind to tape it but i had a hardon to get out sailing. Iv'e missed toooooo many opportunities this season because just life got in the way so my thoughts were a bit rushed.

Lesson learnt

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Mark _australia said..
That would be cool with a wrap - won't be good for full wave use but will salvage it

What wrap are you talking about Mark. I'm no real sick wave sailor so for my bump and jump should be ok.

^^^ wash it out well and dry
superglue in fibres.
wrap in plastic
hose clamp on it tighhhhttt

That gets it back to normal diameter you don't have a trumpet anymore.

Then epoxy and fibreglass wrap, ooooh say 6-8 layersof 4oz glass, and tape tighhhhttt with electrical tape

Remove tape admires smoothness and give it a week to go proper hard.


I've seen that last a long time if only a small split. But only at the base.....in the middle who knows.

So your choice of above or cut off but I'm always inclined to try the fix first

EDIT oh yeah we are not doing the fibreglass over the plastic and hose clamp lol

Mark, I have a feeling that uni-directional tape would make less of a bulge.
The original fibres look reasonably intact, they've just come unstuck. So a few turns of glass should hold them back together?
Any thoughts?

Just had a closer look at the pics, and there are a few strands of broken carbon, so maybe half and half normal cloth and uni-directional

How about 3 layers uni , three layers 4 oz , epoxy , then hang from tip of mast and wrap tightly with tape top down. File off drips . Minimum bulge , gotta be stronger than new. I've done that but only with 4 oz . Mast eventually broke in another area and the epoxy was Araldyte. I'm a simple guy

So picked up my mast today after it was repaired by a really nice guy who kindly offered to repair for a few beers.. I'm stoked. Just need the right conditions to test it. Thanks nice guy in Gero.

Note to self: don't rush rigging up and used tape.

Looks solid !

I'd say that would rough-up a bit through use... resulting in fibres/splinters. Might be worthwhile smoothing those gaps with a bit of epoxy.

Yeah, good one just fill in the rough bits and you're good!