Dented 16' Hobie mast

Pulled a bone head and tried to right the boat by pushing up on the tip of the mast and indented the mast about 1/2 inch.

Anyone know if this can be welded to strengthen and reuse and if so what type of Aluminum material the mast is made of?

Otherwise I'm looking to replace the mast here in Northern Minnesota

I'm no expert but I do know that I had a mast that had a dent in it about a third if the way up from the bottom. Notice I used the word 'had'. It worked for a while.. and then on a big wind day I ended up going over sideways and sure enough it gave and I had a very bent and unusable mast.

Again, I don't know, but i'm not sure welding is going to help anything. It may just be a dead mast.

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Ben Wells - Hobie 16

I had dropped my mast once and put a fairly nice dent in it right below the top. By using a tree stump as an anvil, I was able to take it out by placing a block of wood inside and pounding out the dent. It really depends on where the dent is.

Just curious, how did you dent the mast by picking it up to right the boat?

Sam

I have an extra 16 mast down here in Columbus Indiana,It needs a new base...

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Bill 404 21SE

I have an extra mast used only once at nationals in Fla. selling for 500.00 in Tucson AZ If intrested e-mail me at [email protected]

Thanks for the responses. They are as I suspected, failure is yet to come if I continue to use it. The dent occured as I had my daughter and friend trying to right the cat from the upper pontoon while I was lifting the tip of the mast as I bobed in the water. Never again.

Unfortunately the indentation is too low to insert a block of wood, good idea though. I'd really like to try welding a reinforcing patch over it but the local welder needs to know the thickness and type of aluminum. Any ideas on where I could find that info? The Hobie web site does not offer that kind of detail as far as I can tell.

Otherwise I

6061 T-6
Approx 0.10 thick (it varies over the section)

FYI, heating this type of aluminum (like by welding) can reduce its strength by as much as 70% Instead of one failure point, you're going to have two (the edges of the reinforcing plate) - and you'll ruin the extrusion forever.

The Comptip is the way to go on this mast. Cut the mast off above the hounds, beat out the dent, install Comptip. Done.

This is not something you want to be cheap about.

That dented the mast? You were just lifting the mast while it was on its side in the water?

That's why I was asking? Seems strange to me also.

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Sail Like you Have a Pair
Bluish gray 73 - 83 H16
Super Nice Yellow 84 H18

If you can find a replacement mast easily, that is one option. MBounds' is option of installing a comptip is definitely another one.

If the mast is dented up top, I also question how much its strength is actually compromised. I would imagine the loads would be much less there and increase as you go down...but I wouldn't be the expert there.

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2001 H16E (European Boat) Sail #108348 Cabo
1991 H14T
2006 Bravo (sold)

Make me number 3. I have righted a 16 this way with no problem. The person raising the mast tip only had to llift about 3 feet and then she came on up as I was leaning on the righting line. Can't imagine why it would dent the mast. Must have been some extenuating circumstances.

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'88 Nationals Blue
Hobie Alter Signature Model
Sail #11

Hobie Mirage Classic

Hobie 18 with dent 5 feet down from the top. WHile I agree the strength of the mast is probably now compromised fixing it has me sailing until I find a replacement.

The leading edge of the mast is an aproximate 3-31/8 circle, So I decided to push the dent out from the inside using a couple "tools" from a home depot and then an AutoStore.

First Pass - Homedepot for a piece of 3" Conduit Tubing- metal - a "Mast" is what stored called - small world!!. also need 2 pieces of 1" * 2" wood everything is 8 feet long. Drilled out the 2 rivets on the mast top to remove it then SLide the Conduit into the Mast and hammered it slowly by the Dent , Take your time, you want to push it back out not crease it. First pass started the fix and straightened the mast out quite a bit. Next pass - put one piece of the wood in the mast on the flat side - where the Sail guide is. Hammer the Tube back through - wood forces more of the dent out and more straightening of mast.

Now the next step might have worked all by itself if he dent wasn't as deep as mine and I could get the Muffler pipe expander in the first time, The tool is use by muffler shops to expanded and fix dammaged muffler tubing - $28.00 at Local Auto Shop store near here. It used a 5/8 socket to expand from 2" to 3 1/2 circle - fingers are about 4 inches long, so it spreads the pressure over enough area to not dmamage the thin walled tubing too much in one spot.

The dent came out almost completely - the 2 ends of the dent are slightly creased - some metal hammer work might fix it up completely. I returned the Big piece of the conduit so no cost there.

Old post I know but recently bought a H16 Le Race after storm damaged my previous Hobie.
Unfortunately, while changing the riggering and on closer inspection I noticed a slight dent in the side of the mast of around 25mm diameter about 4 feet below the tang.
Would the muffler expander described in previous post work to ease this dent out?

Thanks.
SRG

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Hobie 14 Turbo (~1979)
Hobie 16 Carumba (1983)
Hobie 16 1990 (storm damaged)
Hobie 16 1996 (my latest)