Bent radial Mast

CAN172033

New Member
hi-
during the summer i noticed that i have bent my radial section and am wondering if their are defective masts out there that have done the same.
The only solution i have come up with is that it bent going uphill on the weather legs with the new vang system on.

It seems the mast has bent right above the sleeve inside the mast and the sleeve is perfectly straight, is their anyway to fix it without it kinking? Or should I take a make a move and try and get it replaced by vangaurd if it's defective? Also one last thing is their anyway to find out if the mast is defective without sending the whole thing back to vanguard or cutting a peace off?
thanks
172033
 
Bent Mast

Hi
Yeah going upwind with that new 15:1 vang system would do it. You can now apply so much more vang tension then ever before. I personally haven't had any trouble yet with a bent mast but I've seen others try to bent their masts back to a straight shape. You can apply force by having the mast in such a way that each end is off the ground and you are able to push down on the middle of the mast to straighten it out. :?

Hope this is useful!?
 
hi-
the same things happened to me... my coach said it probably wasnt from the actual upwind leg (because mainsheet takes some load?) but from not releasing vang IMMEDIATELY when round mark, finish, etc....
i heard somewhere of "end-for-ending" the mast? anybody know how you do this?
what i did was for practices i rotated the top section 1/2 way and electric taped that, figuring sailing would fix it... dunno if this has any effect on mast strength.
kendall
175045
 
This discussion came up before when the new rigging was first introduced. Granted, you can apply a lot of force with the 15:1 vang. However, it seems to me that two-blocking the mainsheet places a fundamental limit on how much the mast will bend.

Personally, the tightest I adjust my vang is to take out all the slack when the mainsheet is two-blocked, and no more. This allows me to sheet out in a puff without having the sail power back up.

I agree with the assessment that the mast bent because the vang wasn't released soon enough at the windward mark. This is where the new vang is an advantage, since it is much, much easier to release. I never could get that old piece-of-crap vang to release when I wanted.
 
How much bend is in your mast? Because if there's not much, I wouldn't bother, especially since upwind in heavier air I (at least) end up bending my radial mast a ton with the control lines while trying to depower the sail. If its really bothering you, you could fall on the mast if you held it just right.
 
it's bent about 3/4 inches, your right uphill it wont affect me at all. It's just in light air downwind that might cause a bit ofless power. But i think i might just try and straightin' it out a bit and see if it bends back or not.
 
ive heard it said that having a bent mast (not sure how much) would make a difference in light-mid air upwind pointing??? im not sure quite why.... i can see how it could make a difference in light air downwind, but im not sure about the pointing.... i heard it at a clinic (cant remember where) and figured id pass it along though.
kendall
175045
 
Does anybody know of any defective radial lower sections in the region and if I can get a defective mast replaced?

If so how are they defective?
 
My question is this.

With the new and improved upgrades that everyone seems to be so excited about has anyone thought about the structural integrity of the surrounding componants....i.e. mast step, rig tensile strength, increased hull pressure etc. :?: espeacialy on the older boats. :?

I've already heard of quite a few mast bends and increased leakage. I just bought my 91 and although its in great shape and light I'm treading lightly on the upgrades untill I've learned how to use the tools properly under the stock tension / trimmers.

I think that there are a lot of people that are fairly inexperienced at advanced trimming and upgrades like these are very powerfull designed for fine tuning....easily. 8)
 

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