Straightening a bent mast

[TJ O'Brien]

Hi all,

My boat blew over in a storm and the mast is bent above the hounds. Is there any particular tricks to getting it back straightened out?

Cheers,

TJ

IRL 7771

[bill platt]

Hi TJ

I have straightened many masts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is a total fail.Last year I successfully straightened a 505 mast, and two Bullseye masts, but buckled another bullseye mast. Sometimes that happens.

Find a grove of trees. Seriously. Then look for the right spacing. Get some towels as padding. Then sight down the mast and get the bend to be at the tree. Get a friend for this and the two of you go to opposite sides of the bend and push at the same time. Take it easy and do it over and over and check each time. start with only a few feet from the bend so in other words not at mast tip--but watch after each push.

     If you absolutely need to do it alone, then find the grove of trees so that a pair of trees serves as the fulcrum as well as the other person, and push until you achieve the results.

    IF there is any local bucking or kinking in the mast, you are very likely to buckle the whole thing and lose it. But not always. My second 505 had some kinks and I still managed to get most of the below the partners bend to go away without failing.

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