Cracked weld on mast is actually cracked mast

[Robin Newbold]

It's in the top section of the mast, where the shrouds and forestay attach onto a plate, and the plate attaches onto a slot in a box. The weld, where the box attaches onto the mast has a hairline crack in it.

I spoke to Kevin Dutch about it and he suggests it's not so good having cracked welds!

A few questions:

Has anyone else had this problem? (I think I saw Frank with the same problem at Thorpe Bay last year).

How would I go about repairing it - I will need to find an aluminium welder, but is there a special type of weld needed?(I may know of some people that do tig(?) welding, is that sufficient? What do the different types of weld do?)

As the top section is "sealed", will there need to be a bit removed (such as the top plate on to of the mast) before welding so as to stop it exploding with the heat?

Will it be safe to sail on when it has been repaired?

As you may have noticed I don't actually know anything about welding, so any help is appreciated.

[Frank]

Hi Robin, yes I did have the same problem last year. I had mine repaired by Sailspar who are at Brightlingsea , http://www.sailspar.co.uk/ .
This may be too far for you to travel for a repair, but it’s worth a phone call for a bit of advice.
The cost of the welding was only £15.
As for sailing it with a crack, I wouldn’t risk it, as I had a mast break a few years ago and besides a broken mast I also got a badly damaged sail.
Good luck !!
PS no problems since the repair.

[Robin Newbold]

Ok, thanks Frank, I'll give them a ring tomorrow to see what needs to be done. I've just realised I'm going back to uni next week and sprint nationals are only a few weeks away so need to get it sorted.

[Bob Carter]

Hi Robin
Yes - go to Sailspar. It may be a long journey to Brightlinsea but a new mast is nearly £900.
Quite a few boats have had the same problem and thus far none that Sailspar welded have failed, to my knowledge. The first time I have seen one bend at the crack was at Carsington a few years ago when the mast of 1808 bent at the hounds. Ever since then we have been watching carefully.............
Cheers
Bob

[Robin Newbold]

Thank you for your help, I rang Sailspar yesterday, and have a good idea about what needs to be done. I think I'll find someone around this area to do the repair, as a 400 mile round trip is a little far to drive for a £15 repair. I'll just need to make sure that the welder(?) knows exactly what needs to be done.

[Robin Newbold]

Here's hopefully some pictures of the mast. Andrew asked for some pictures as he said he had a similar problem. As it turns out, it's not a crack in the weld, but a crack in the mast.
[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/16558160@N07/3468621166/ [/img]

[img] http://www.flickr.com/photos/16558160@N07/3468619460/ [/img]

Will it still be repairable?

I heard some water in the mast, so drained it last night. I measured 1.75l! No wonder it felt a bit heavier than normal. Must have come in through the crack.

[Chris Black]

Robin,
Your crack is almost identical to the crack in my mast along the edge of the weld which was sucessfully repaired by Sailspar. I also took Steve Sawford's mast with a similar crack for repair at the same time.
I was told that the original welding causes the temper of the mast extrusion to soften where it is heated by the weld. To date both masts have shown no sign of a recurrance.

I understood that it is very important for a sucessful repair to remove all of the anodising where the repair is to be made.

Cheers Chris

[Robin Newbold]

Thanks Chris, so there's hope yet!

[Andrew Hannah]

Thanks for adding your pics, Robin. I have sent a PM re my mast, as I don't know how to add pictures to the association website.

[Frank]

Hi Robin,
The crack on my mast was identical to yours and as Chris pointed out once repaired should be as good as new.
What’s more worrying, is where Andrew’s going with this “I've got a little cat
And I'm very fond of that.” I suspect he’s heading for some “Are You Being Served “ humour.
Grubguru’s predicting that we’re not far away from Mrs Slocombe’s domesticated feline!!!

[Andrew Hannah]

Ah Ha, Frank! Charles changed his slogan, so I thought I'd change mine. I opted for a couple of lines from a music hall song.

Daddy won't buy me a bow wow, bow wow,
Daddy won't buy me a bow wow, bow wow.
I've got a little cat
And I'm very fond of that,
But I'd rather have a bow wow, wow, wow, wow!

[Bob Carter]

Thanks Chris, so there's hope yet!

Yes but it is much better to take the trip to the profesionals (Sailspar). Their whole business is masts and beams. I had them weld up some cracked tiller arms (as spares for George) after a less professional weld failed.
Cheers
Bob

[Erling]

Hi Robin
We have a mast with a crack in the same place. Could you give me update as geting it to Sailspar is a bit of a job.

[Robin Newbold]

Hi Erling, all that happened was I gave it to my neighbour, who gave it to an aluminium tig welder. I tried to explain what forces the mast will be under when sailing. I think he ground down the old weld, and re-welded around the whole box. Came back looking fine, sailed sport and una rig nationals and a few times between, and my mast still points upwards. Everytime I drop the mast I check if the crack has got worse, nothing so far, can't see the original crack as it's under the weld. So, as Bob recommends, Sailspar is probably best, as they have experience with these problems, but a local welder could probably do a similar job, with less hassle of transport.

Does that answer your question?