Mastering Masts
Spring has sprung and for many sailors it’s a great time to make sure the rig is ready for the coming summer glory. Racers, cruisers, and all sailors in-between need to be confidant in their proud mast’s ability to hold it all up. In many ways the mast is the key to the entire sailing enterprise and best not taken for granted.
We picked the brain of Scott Wallingford, a rigger at CSR Marine in Seattle, Washington to find out more about how to prevent issues with your mast. His varied maritime career includes working with sailboat monohull brands like Beneteau and Hunter and multihull builders like Seawind catamarans and NEEL trimarans. Wallingford also owns his own sailboat company Beyond the Sail. He builds and refits masts regularly and was able to share some expert tips with us.
Start with Deck Checks
The idea of a mast failure probably conjures up dramatic images of masts snapping like twigs, but most of the structural issues Wallingford observes have less to do with the mast itself and more with the points of contact with the deck around the mast.
“We do replace spreaders and standing rigging is a frequent change,” he said. “But realistically the shelf life on the shrouds and potentially even the tips of your spreaders could be up at 20 years here in the Pacific Northwest.” Sun damage reduces the longevity of gear in lower latitudes.
“I started off thinking that the mast was the most important thing; that you needed to get in a bosun chair and look at everything,” said Wallingford. Aluminum and carbon fiber masts tend to dominate sailboat building today. The industry in general has cracked the code on how to build these well and they tend to be stout. “Most of the things that come into the yard damage wise are actually on the boat, not on the mast itself.”
When tightening one’s shrouds and forestay, most sailors will worry about over pressuring the rig. But Wallingford noted that owners should pay extra attention to how much pressure they are putting on the masthead and forestay chain plates on the deck.
“Be vigilant if you ever see separation of the plate and the deck,” warned Wallingford. “Or cracking that’s around the perimeter of it. That’s a pretty good indication that you’re getting additional pressure.”
“Look around at everything that your mast is connected to,” he continued. “Checking around there is just as important as the spar itself.” That being said, it is possible for the spar to become compromised. If one notices what looks like boiling on a painted mast or pitting on an unpainted mast it’s possible there is structural corrosion. This should be dealt with promptly as like a tooth cavity it will spread.
Balance is Key
If the contact points to the deck are looking good, the next important focus is the balance of the rig overhead. Tuning a rig is a specialized technical process that often involves a professional eye, but Wallingford offered tips for owner self-diagnoses
“Your spreader tips; straight is great, but if you have a little bit of a wing up—say 10 or even 15 degrees—that’s better for overall compression of the way that the mast holds,” he said.
How the mast itself sits on its deck plate also can say a lot. If it’s heel heavy, that’s an indication that maybe the rig balance is too heavy on the backstay or forestay. If it’s toe heavy, perhaps more tightening is needed to come back on the forestay. Bottom line, the mast should sit evenly.
“Once we get the mast up, our biggest concern is making sure that there’s a proper amount of rigging tightness to the rig,” explained Wallingford. Typically the proper tightening strain on the rig is around 22% to 23% of breaking strength of the rod or wire.
Maximize Mast Pulls
Pulling a mast in the yard is a hassle, so why not make the most of it? Wallingford strongly suggests seeing the hurdle as an opportunity.
“If you ever bring your mast down, take some time to just go ahead and inspect everything,” said Wallingford. “And clean it, that way you have a nice shiny mast when you go back. Repaint it if necessary.”
Boatyards should be fine with owners coming in, maybe after the busiest hours, to put hands on their downed rigs. This is the best time to polish or paint it, replace simple fasteners, reapply Tef-Gel or Loctite, and generally make sure conditions are Bristol. Installing or replacing boots on the spreader tips is another simple job. All this is far easier to do when the mast is down than from a swinging bosuns chair when it’s up.
“Aside from cleaning, the only other thing I would recommend is to take a good look at the electrical connections you have for your anchor lights,” suggested Wallingford. Corroded electrical connectors are often the reason why the anchor light stopped working. Checking those out while the mast is down is a good idea. Ideally butt connectors will be heat shrinked or wrapped tightly with electrical tape. Open them up and replace as necessary to avoid a hassle down the road. “Inspect your wind instruments, whatever else you may have up there on your radar mount and on your masthead. Check your radar dome, foredeck lights, and any mast mounted VHF antennas.”
In addition to the standing rigging, when the mast is down is a great time to check the condition of any hardware related to the running rigging. Check any mast mounted winches, cleats, and the like for wear and corrosion. Check the halyards themselves for signs of wear and the accompanying blocks and sheaves at the masthead and other entry points.
One bit of information that’s good to know but is only a problem during improper commissioning is how a carbon fiber mast relates to direct contact with metal. The metal will severely compromise the integrity of the carbon fiber when stressed. The connection must be insulated correctly, commonly with Tef-Gel or plastic grommets.
Another benefit to really getting to know your mast and giving it all that TLC when it’s pulled in the yard is confidence.
“When the mast goes back up, it provides a lot of security and understanding to boat owners to be able to see everything that’s down there and put their hands on it,” concludes Wallingford. As the old saying goes, knowledge is power. Who knows? Perhaps those wise ancients were sailors messing with masts.
