lower spar repair

R

rcarney61

New Member
My lower spar broke at the gooseneck. I am thinking of having a 6" piece of aluminum pipe inserted and welded for repair. I might lengthen it by an inch to better tighten my older sail.
 
Still lurking, so I'll offer some advice: do NOT weld aluminum, as it will anneal the metal and make it weaker, just use 2-part epoxy glue to secure the insert inside the spar, and use thin rectangular sheets of aluminum to fill any gap between insert & spar, applying glue to every surface for maximum adhesion. I did this with the broken lower mast section of Laser #2069, adding an outer sleeve to boot, and it worked like gangbusters for many years after the repair... I originally took it to a master marine welder to see about repairing it that way, but the hand was so honest he did himself out of a job, told me the aluminum would be annealed and the spar would just break again, aye? I figured he was the expert... he was also the one who suggested an insert, the additional outer sleeve was my idea for maximum strength on island voyages, totally worth the slight bit of additional weight in exchange for peace of mind on hard recreational voyages, LOL. I don't see any problem with adding an inch or two to the spar, that won't add much weight and I reckon the gooseneck can be shifted if necessary, though a mere inch or two shouldn't make any difference. You might also need to add an end cap or smoothen the surface "gap" in the extended spar, just my $.02, FWIW. CHEERS!!! :cool:
 
Coastal Redneck said:
Still lurking, so I'll offer some advice: do NOT weld aluminum, as it will anneal the metal and make it weaker, just use 2-part epoxy glue to secure the insert inside the spar, and use thin rectangular sheets of aluminum to fill any gap between insert & spar, applying glue to every surface for maximum adhesion. I did this with the broken lower mast section of Laser #2069, adding an outer sleeve to boot, and it worked like gangbusters for many years after the repair... I originally took it to a master marine welder to see about repairing it that way, but the hand was so honest he did himself out of a job, told me the aluminum would be annealed and the spar would just break again, aye? I figured he was the expert... he was also the one who suggested an insert, the additional outer sleeve was my idea for maximum strength on island voyages, totally worth the slight bit of additional weight. I don't see any problem with adding an inch or two to the spar, that won't add much weight and I reckon the gooseneck can be shifted if necessary, though a mere inch or two shouldn't make any difference. You might also need to add an end cap or smoothen the surface "gap" in the extended spar, just my $.02, FWIW. CHEERS!!! :cool:
Click to expand...
AThanks for all the great info. Both my boats are 50 years old, and this is the first broken spar. Would Marine Tex be an appropriate glue?
 
That I cannot tell you, since Marine Tex evidently came after my time of heavy boat repairs... I used 2-part epoxy glue and it worked just fine, never had an issue with the insert or sleeve, though I had to use additional shims or trimmed aluminum sheets (cut to exact size) between insert & spar, as well as between spar & outer sleeve. That's what's important, making sure there's no play or looseness in the "fit" of the repair, you want everything nice and snug, LOL. :cool:
 
I think a good epoxy would be best. It’s an adhesive whereas MT is a filler with adhesive properties. Epoxy would flow better through the repair too.

You should strongly consider changing the bottom spar to the top spar and visa versa. It takes some drilling and filling holes to do that, but you’d then have a relatively fresh spar as the bottom spar.
 
Change around as Beldar suggested as that bottom spar takes a lot of bend.

We found one that had a 3 foot piece of broomstick inserted, then they through bolted it. I think it would have worked fine but we won't resell anything like that. The crack was hidden under some gaff tape but the nuts and bolts were a clue. Put the broomstick at top for extra flotation. Note the shower curtain ring :)

spar splice bolt.jpg


broomstick.jpg
 
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