Shortening a Mast

[Ryan]

The mast that came with my Hughes 25 has a small stress crack at the bottom where it is stepped. Does anyone see a problem with cutting about 1/2" off the mast at the bottom to remove the crack? I am redoing all the standing rigging anyway, so that change isn't an issue. Two pictures are linked below. Sorry fro the poor quality. The crack itself is about 1/4" long. Thanks for any advice.

http://photobucket.com/albums/d101/r...ailboat004.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d101/r...ailboat012.jpg

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
We frequently shorten masts,usually to deal with corrosion. And as long as the difference is minimal/not critical, there's no problem. But a couple of tricky bits: you won't be shortening the shrouds by the same amount as the mast (angles); and I'd strongly urge you to determine what caused that fracture. Quite a weird thing, but start with an off-angle tune, an off-angle step, or something bumpy in the way of that crack. Be sure of the cause before you restep, okay?
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Ryan]

Brion

Thanks for the reply. According to the previous owner, the crack happened while he was unstepping the mast and it came down at an angle. The mast steps in a rotating "shoe" type step, so I will make sure that there are no protrusions on the step that would put stress on the mast. Thanks again.

[Brian Duff]

I'll bet freezing water caused that crack, as I dont see any drain holes and the bottom of your mast. A thought anyway
If you want to keep your rig height the same you could, say, cut the mast 1/2" or whatever is needed to pass the crack, then raise the step that much with a piece of alum plate or something else suitable. Also, are there no holes in your mast or step (per photos) to fasten the spar to the step ?

[Russ L]

Hello again,
I don't believe standing water, which froze in the bottom of a mast would cause extreme pressure at the bottom... leading to a mast wall cracking. We have many plastic pails outside which collect rain water & freeze, intermittently, during our long winter (4 months). The ice just "grows up" and the plastic pail does not crack.
However, every mast step should drain. In my recent overhaul I cut a drain hole in the mast, which I believed to be a deficiency, only to find later as I cleaned the step that there was a central drain hole plugged with 30 years o' crud!

Cheers, Russ l

[Brian Duff]

Masts do crack from freezing water, and easil. We have one spar laying on our rack that split nearly a foot long, and bulged all the way around in that area, from water freexzing inside of it. I will try to remember to take some pictures on monday. I dont believe that the scrap man has taken it yet.

Deck steped masts often get damage like that, a little fold out, when they are not controlled properly as they are lowered. That is usually caused by a fastner pulling through or pulling out of the butt plug, so not seeing those fasterns there I was offering suggestions of what else could have caused the damage, besides what Brion already mentioned.

[Ryan]

Brian

The mast step (pics below) has an corner on it that corresponds to the crack on the mast, making the story of an angled mast a plausible reason for the crack. The mast does NOT have any fasteners to hold the mast to the step. This was a concern for me simply because I have never dealt with a mast that lacked fasteners, but in talking to other Hughes 25 owners, they have had no problems so I guess I'll learn to like it!

Thanks for all the info.

Ryan

http://photobucket.com/albums/d101/r...ailboat001.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d101/r...ailboat002.jpg
http://photobucket.com/albums/d101/r...ailboat003.jpg