DaySailer.org Forum

Greetings!

I bought a Sailstar Explorer 17 (Basically a Daysailor copy) last summer from a guy who had tipped it over in a lake and snapped the mast in half. I paid $1 for the boat. I'm looking at mast sections from Dwyer who made the mast I have. I have been told that rivets are the way to go. Any input on this? People suggest using a sleeve to fit inside the mast, which Dwyer has, they say it's 15" long, and if I recall my mast is 23'. There seems to be mixed opinions about whether to weld the 2 mast halves together after the sleeve is riveted in place. There is also a roughly 1.5 x 1.5" hole punched in the mast about 8 inches from the break.

Thanks!
Peter.

One, there's been discussion on this topic - check older threads.

Two, how high up is your break? Just curious.

Three, if the hole is in the area that's sleeved that should hopefully allow the sleeve to carry some of the loads on the mast there, but 1.5x1.5" isn't small.

Hello Greenlake,

I have looked in older threads and I didn't find a good clear answer there, but maybe I need to search deeper or broaden my search terms. The break is about 8 feet up from the bottom of the mast. The hole is about 16" above the break, so a bit high for what Dwyer is recommending for a sleeve. I would think a hole like that might be a good candidate for a weld. One issue I was reminded of last night looking at the mast again was that although the break is very clean, the upper portion of the mast has a mild curve to it for the first 3-4 feet or so, and straightening this out may be a challenge.

Thanks,
Peter.

Can you source a replacement used mast?

I'm going to work on finding a used mast in tandem with trying to repair this one. I had hopes of getting my rig together to be able to sail yet this season but it looks like it won't happen. I also recall from my connections to the blacksmithing community that selective heating and cooling on large metal pieces can slowly move them. I'm going to look into that as well. Looking at the break again, I think if I can straighten it out, repairing it will not be difficult and will work well. We''l see.

OK. Wish you good luck with your repair. You are really the best one to judge - I think few of us here have broken enough masts to be true experts, and not being able to inspect the damage makes it even harder so say something conclusive. I've only been through this with friends who tore the end off a mast, so their "repair" was mainly to make their mast a bit shorter.

Thanks for weighing in and taking the time. I really appreciate it. We'll see how it goes!
Cheers~
Peter.