I was dismasted

[allene]

Papoose was run down by an 82 foot big schooner from clear astern on the same tack. We didn't see them until seconds before their bowsprit hooked out backstay. Our mast came down in splinters a second later falling between myself and the main trimmer. Nobody was hurt. We left pieces of wood all over the bay. We recovered all the larger pieces as they were attached to the boat by various lines or wires. Both boats were participating in the Master Mariners Regatta. We were on leg 2 and the schooner was on leg 3 as we were on different courses. There was no hull contact except where their bobstay cut a grove in our tow rail. The damage I see is the mast is gone and the stern pulpit and the bronze backstay chainplate are twisted up from being hit. There is also paint chipping around the stem fitting on the bow so it is clear something moved up there. The stem fitting is held on with wood screws so at a minimum they will get through bolted where possible. I see no damage to the hull and no new cracks in the topside paint other than the stem fitting. The boat is not taking on water. The mast was spruce.

I am looking for advice in general and specifically where can I get a quote on a replacement spruce mast. If I go aluminum, what should I consider? The boom seems OK but it would seem like keeping a wood boom on an aluminum mast would not be a good idea.

Also, my shipwright suggested that the chainplates should be inspected. I took one out a few years ago and it really tore up the boat taking it out, it was pristine, and cost $1000 to do just the one. Doing 6 is something I would not like to do so is there some other way to insure they are OK. I see no signs of stress around the chainplates but have not inspected carefully yet. The one we took out was some special bronze alloy better than silicon bronze. Is there a silver bronze? The lowers are silicon bronze I believe. The stem fitting is silicon bronze and the side where I pulled the paint off is showing red (not good). But it is a big beefy fitting that attaches to both the deck and the bow. The upper chainplates are continuous from one side to the other due to added stainless straps.

To make matters worse, I almost cut off then end of my finger cutting the rig away and ended up in Urgent Care getting it sewn back together so it is a new experience typing with my right hand normally and just three fingers on the left hand.



This is kind of what it looked like just before they hit us. I don't recall the anchor. Thank goodness for that. They did not return to see if we were OK and I was told that was because their bowsprit broke in the collision and they had a lot of trouble getting the sails down.

[Stumble]

What a crap day, sorry it happened.

The only way I know to check the chainplates would be to remove them and visually inspect them. You might be able to get away with drilling a hole in whatever encases them and using a snake camera to see what's going on, but I would be hesitant about this, I am not sure how you would really tell if they are bent. You could probably tell if they were certainly messed up, but couldn't tell for sure if they were ok.

No idea where to get a new wooden mast, but this must be a good time to look into a carbon rig if you have ever considered it. The insurance company should pay at least the entire cost of replacing what you had (wood may actually be more than aluminium these days) adding a little of your own to that to make the swap may make sense, particularly if you can find a good used mast.

[Brion Toss]

Hi,
And first ow, ow, ow. So sorry to hear about that. What you went through qualifies as an adventure, from where I'm sitting (adventure: someone else in a lot of trouble, not where you are). Some of the best sparbuilders I know are right here in Point Hudson. Be in touch if I can make referrals. You can get a spruce mast of comparable weight to an aluminum one, if you engineer it right. And of course it will be beautiful.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[allene]

Thanks Brion,

At this point I am keeping all options open so would love any referrals. I am having Spalding Wooden Boat Center come look at the boat tomorrow. My yard says he can build a carbon one quickly and of course we are contacting Buzz Bellenger for an aluminum one. I think that represents all options. I have been convinced that I am done for this season which is a shame as I am not sure how many more seasons I can last but it does give me time to figure it out.

If the port and starboard chainplates are as strong as the backstay chainplate, I should not worry about them. That thing is twisted and obviously took a huge load, way beyond anything I would get sailing. My goal is afterall not to have the chainplates survive another dismasting, but to have them survive sailing. They are bronze btw.

I did see cracking in the boards that hold the deck up (what are those called?). There might be some motion evidenced on deck there as well. I don't know how old the cracks but it does seem like they are new compared to the paint as there is no paint in the cracks. These are on the forward lowers so my thought is they took some load prior to the mast coming down. It broke basically in three major pieces which would be a second moment failure from a compression load just as one would expect.