How To Check If A Mast Is Straight??

Macià

New Member
Dear friends,
I'd like to know the steps to follow to test if my mast is straight. Can you give me some advices to check the lower section and the upper section?

Regards.:confused:
Macià
 
Well I've bent quite a few radial bottoms, and usually it is only a small bend, 1 inch or so. But the way I check is to sight down the mast from the top to the bottom, if it dips a little then it is bent, but an inch wont hurt unless if you're competing in the worlds or something of that nature! Now I have only seen one bent top section so I think it isn't that usual to bend them, and the same way goes to see if it is bent. And fixing them.. well I have no idea of how to fix that!

Hope this helps
ChalmersP
 
Dear friends,
I'd like to know the steps to follow to test if my mast is straight. Can you give me some advices to check the lower section and the upper section?

Regards.:confused:
Macià


I was not aware masts even had a sexual orientation...
 
Hello,
Any other idea?.
I'd like to know the steps to follow to test if a mast is straight. Can you give me some advices to check the lower section and the upper section?

Regards.:confused:
Macià
 
Hello,
Any other idea?.
I'd like to know the steps to follow to test if a mast is straight. Can you give me some advices to check the lower section and the upper section?

Regards.:confused:
Macià

Seems like sighting down it or rolling (the upper) on the ground are good ideas. How about setting them upright, and hanging a plumb line (a weighted string) next to them?
 
Now I have only seen one bent top section so I think it isn't that usual to bend them, and the same way goes to see if it is bent.
ChalmersP

When I bought my used laser my top section had a permanent bend in it, I talked to a couple people who told me that it would lose strength if I tried to unbend it.
 
I've bent one radial bottom section sailing in a huge gale and I bend my top section most times I go sailing. I straighten it about once a month probably. I've end for ended my top section to extend its life and its still going.
 
I've bent one radial bottom section sailing in a huge gale and I bend my top section most times I go sailing. I straighten it about once a month probably.

So, that doesn't make it weak? If that is so then I don't need to spend $200 bucks. How would you go about unbending it?
 
It probably does. My mast was first used Jun 2006 (I mark them so I know exactly how old they are from use) and it bends very easily and straightens easily - not a good sign. I do have a new op section that I used for the first time last week. However, I'll keep using my old one for training and club racing until it goes. It may surprise me and last for ages yet.

I get my OH to help me straighten it. Mast put together, top section resting on my shoulder. My OH then puts all his weight on the point of the bend to force it back (be careful in case it snaps and you go flat on your face if your not expecting it). Other people rest it on fences/trailers etc with a bit of padding.
 
Hello,
Any other idea?.
I'd like to know the steps to follow to test if a mast is straight. Can you give me some advices to check the lower section and the upper section?

Regards.:confused:
Macià

You can certainly check by rolling it, holding it up agains a known straight surface (brick wall etc)...


And I believe that the lower section would be bisexual, given it's relationship with the female boat, the female boom and the male upper section.
 
Have you ever played pool? How do you check a pool stick to see if it is straight? You roll it on the top of the pool table right? Same thing with the mast section. Put it on a a flat surface and roll it.
 
Rolling gives an easy indication, as has been said.
In my experience the top section is most prone to bending or snapping in line with the rivet securing the plastic spacer which fits into the bottom section.
The boat I bought in the USA had a bent top mast at this point (even though the rivet is positioned at the back to compress it rather than stretch it).
I am thinking about straightening it by jamming the section below the spacer and forcing it straight using leverage but I am a bit worried that this will strain the mast at the point of the rivet and it may snap at this weak point.
I am asking myself if I want the extra tension in the leech that much?
 
i bent my top section VERY seriously after one day of heavy wind sailing, and although it probably wont ever be raced with again, it would be nice if i could get it back to something you could practice with, but im not following how you could unbend a mast without putting too much force on it and straining it elsewhere along the mast. someone please clarify?
 
It is easy to take out a slight bowing of the top section simply by supporting the mast above and below the bow and pressing down in the middle till straight.
The problem comes if the bend has a very short length due, or it is very near the end as in my case. Maybe I should end for end my top section as Sailorchick suggested.
 
I've never had a problem with a lower section, but uppers seem to suffer just above the collar at the join. This seems to be much worse since the new control lines were introduced as the multiple purchases on the kickermean it's easy to over tighten when bringing down the boom.

The only real solution is to end for end and then buy a new top section if you get another bend.
 
One of the old legends that raced when I was a kid built a mast straightener. Basically it was two padded collars that held the bent top section in place the same as a lower section would, while he worked the other end of the section gently back and forth in the reverse direction to the bend. He was adamant that just forcing it was a sure way of weakening it.
 
Now I have only seen one bent top section so I think it isn't that usual to bend them, and the same way goes to see if it is bent. And fixing them.. well I have no idea of how to fix that!

Hope this helps
ChalmersP

Top sections will and do bend...

Bending of both sections is inevitable. One way to make it bend...better, is to make sure you have a tight fit in the joint where the sections meet. If you line them up, and have the sections snug/very snug, at least you will get a uniform bend, spreading the force out evenly and avoiding the awful "kink".

I've never broke either section in 5 years of racing, I've never broken either section.

Everyone probably already knows this...
 
If you bend your upper section, you can "swap ends" by taking the collar and cap off the one end and putting them on the other. I had a small bend at the collar, so I swapped ends, making sure I had the bend in the old end (now at the top of the upper section) facing forwards when I install the upper into the lower, which tightens the leech a bit. Right out of the box, I got a bend in my lower section. I sent it back to Vanguard, and they replaced it.
 

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