Mast trouble...

Hello everyone,

Today while I was practicing capsize recovery in a stock tank, I broke my forestay. I did not realize this until after I unhooked he jib and my girlfriend, unable to hold the weight of the mast, dropped the mast onto the trampoline frame. Now my mast has about a 10 degree bend in the first 6 feet or so and the rest is straight as an arrow.

So the question is will the mast be usable? Hard to raise the main? Dangerous?

I'm sailing on a college budget so I will put off buying a new mast if I can get by with this one, however if the situation demands a replacement then that's what will have to be done.

Also my mast dose not appear to be water tight. It fills up rather quickly. So maybe a new mast is the way too go?

Thanks for yalls help

Nathan

Oh, The mast is not a comp tip by the way. All aluminum.

Thanks

I've read before that you can put the mast between two posts and try to carefully bend the mast back straight. I'm not 100 percent on how effective it is though.

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

Thanks James. I might look into that. I was thinking I may try to heat it with a torch and see if I can straighten it out warm. I found a mast pretty cheap in my area so push comes to shove I'll just replace it

Nathan

I wouldn't heat it. Anodized Aluminum is weakened by heating. Everything I've read on here advises against that.

_________________
James
86' Redline Hobie 16
Sail # 76909

I have to admit, after bending the mast yesterday afternoon I just packed the boat up and put it in the barn out of frustration. This morning I rigged the whole thing on the trailer to see if the bend was going to be an issue and I think it looks worse then it is. I had no problem stepping the mast or raising the mainsal. I think I'll be able to get across the bay with a little bend.

However I did adjust the port side shroud down one hole on the adjuster to straighten the mast out with the centerline of the boat, so now the mast kicks a hair to the port side then gose straight up. Doesn't seem to be much of an issue then bend looked a lot worse through frustrated eyes I suppose.

So now my question is is there any long reaching effects of having the shroud adjusters set to different holes on each side?

Oh. And is there any way to seal the mast to make it more water tight?

Thanks y'all,

Nathan

I have bent them back by placing on a couple blocks... bend up. Stand and bounce on it to slowly tweak back. No hard points to cause a dimple. Requires good balance and someone to help hold in the right position.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt. Do you have any tips for making the mast more watertight?

The areas that could leak are minimal, so silicone usually does the trick. I am sure there is more detailed info within the forums here though. Try a forum search with key words like leak and mast:

http://www.hobiecat.com/forums/search.php?keywords=leak+mast+seal+16&terms=all&author=&fid%5B%5D=50&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Nate,

Don't hesitate to call me if you need something. I think my old sailing buds at TxA&M might have an extra h16 mast in College Station or Lake Somerville which could replace yours if needed. I could ask my buds back at A&M to see if there is one if you like. There's a whole fleet of dilapidated boats at Lake Somerville they slowly part out to kep the boats in College Station looking "good".

Also, Chuck is the local hobie dealer here in Austin. I've been working with him alot lately now that I own an h16 as well. He's a great resource for knowledge and loves to help guys like you and I out. So far, I've bought quite a few things off of him and he is quite knowledgeable. He really knows his stuff. You may wish to give him a call if you're in a bind. His telephone can be found on his website: http://yoursailboatshop.com/ (yes I know, corny name).

-Evan

thanks Evan,

I'm going to try to get the boat out on the bay this week and that will be a good test to see if the mast is gonna work, i might get a buddy to trail me in a motor boat in case it all goes wrong.

do any of y'all have experience sailing with a float on the top of the mast? dose it hinder any of regular operations of the boat? will it keep the mast up even if it begins filing? I'm going to try to re-seal this one, but it sure filled up fast and it was next to impossible to get the boat back up after water was in it. in fact i had to swim it too the edge of the stock tank and push up on the mast while my crew pulled from the hulls.

the cows were less then amoosed (get it? amoosed, ha.) to see all this going on in there watering hole.

-nathan

I have a Baby Bob (the smaller float) on the top of my mast. It doesn't really detract from my performance and it helps alot when I acidentally capsize from pushing the boat too far as I'm still learning its limits. But, one of the guys who used to race hobie 16s up here said that the baby bob is unecessary weight. He said you can do something with silicone sprayed somehow in the mast and that'll prevent it from turtling when you capsize. I would like to try my friend's silicone idea but I'm not sure if its worth it since I have a bob and for racing, the silicone would probably just put the same amount of weight I took off by removing the bob back on. I'd have to ask John what he said about the silicone exactly to tell you what to do, I'd be happy to text him for you.

The float does not hinder regular operations of the boat at all I've found. Yet, if you ever break the pulleys at the top it would probably get in the way. Its only a couple of screws though if you're going to remove it. So I can't imagine it being too much trouble.

I also have a "chicken line" on my boat which helps with righting it. Its also not necessary and I'll probably take it off as I get better with the boat. They also sell a righting bucket but I would only get it if you sail alone (which I intend to do). As of right now, I don't have experience with the righting bucket and won't buy one until I'm done paying the boat off.

-Evan

You really need to leak test the mast and seal it. There are foam plugs near the top and bottom that can leak.....plus all the riveted fittings. Do a search as MM suggests.

The bob will usually keep a sealed mast from going turtle, and it MAY keep your leaky mast from going turtle, but it's going to add even more weight to the top making it harder to right from the normal capsize position. It also adds a little drag, but, if installed properly, it doesn't hinder any operations.

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Jerome Vaughan
Hobie 16

Thanks for all yalls help.

I wanted to get th boat out today and see how she did. I took it out in a protected area of Corpus Christi bay with about 20 knots of wind. Had an absolute blast

I took a rather large boat bumper from off the shelf at academy,I believe it's 8 inches across and 24 inches long. And weighs about 2 lbs. and lashed it too the top of the mast, I figured it had to be better then a milk jug, which I had seen recommended in other places on the forum, although I did not flip the boat, the fender did not get in my way any and I'm fairly confident it would keep the mast up if I were to flip the boat.

I think I'll try to seal the mast tomarow morning. I would imagine The leak would have to be at the top of the mast as it was the only part to go in the water when i noticed the leak. Is there a perfected product for this application or will any marine grade silicone work?

I suppose I should have expected this much from a $50 boat.

-Nathan

I have a hobie mast bob on my h16 (not sure which bob) and it has not hindered normal operation at all and didn't seem to affect righting the boat when I flipped it. I was actually really glad I had it on as we were on our side for a while before we managed to get it righted (first time for both myself and my crew.)

One thing I didn't see anyone else mention is that you should make a very thorough inspection of the rest of your rigging since the forestay broke. The last thing you want is to be out on the water and have a shroud or the jib halyard break and drop the mast or possibly injure you.