Broken but repaired upper mast section

Just A Mom

Member
Hi everyone.

My son sails a Laser radial. He was at a regatta, and, long story made short, was hit by another boat, got all tangled up in the rigging (with the other boat) and his mast was taking on the force of both boats. He said he heard a creaking sound and left the regatta and came in. All looked well at first and then two days later he was out sailing and his upper mast section bent over at a 90 degree angle.

A club member took his mast to fix it. The member basically took the mast and repaired it with carbon fibre. The original break (and, yes, it was literally in two pieces) was about a foot up from the radial lower section. The club member attached the two sections and has flipped it upside down so now the "break" is a foot from the top of the mast.

I have since bought him another upper mast section as he had to go off to CORK in Kingston for the Olympic training regatta. But my son thinks he should keep the old one for "just in case". I'm not so convinced.

So....the question is...junk it or keep it? We could also donate it to the club's sailing school should a future student need one in a jam while waiting for a new one to come in the mail.

Thoughts?
 
A foot from the top? I suppose it could be used in a pinch. Useless for racing, especially at a top level event like CORK. And when it invariable breaks again, it could mess up your sail.

Best to recycle into a boom as LaLi suggests.
 
As a topmast, junk. But you can make a boom out of it.

Huh....I never would have thought of that. Are they the same diameter? I assume I can just buy an end piece to fit the gooseneck into?

It wouldn't be class legal but he could use it for practice.
 
Are they the same diameter? I assume I can just buy an end piece to fit the gooseneck into?

It wouldn't be class legal but he could use it for practice.
It should be the same section. You'd have to buy all the fittings (except the clew end cap), including the inner reinforcement sleeve. But it would be a legal boom.
 
Is the new mast you bought plastic?
The repaired one will work just fine and you should keep it "just in case" or use it for practice. It won't break where it was repaired.
You can also make a boom.
Definitely don't junk it.
E
 
Is the new mast you bought plastic?
The repaired one will work just fine and you should keep it "just in case" or use it for practice. It won't break where it was repaired.
You can also make a boom.
Definitely don't junk it.
E

No, it's just the regular aluminum mast (or whatever they make them out of - I am not an expert at Laser parts!). I didn't even know they made plastic masts. Is this a new thing? What would be the advantage of a plastic mast over the metal masts?
 
I didn't even know they made plastic masts. Is this a new thing? What would be the advantage of a plastic mast over the metal masts?
Legal from 1 February this year. It's been talked about as the "carbon" topmast for a long time on many threads on this forum, but I understand it's mostly fibreglass with only the outermost layer being carbon.

There isn't supposed to be any advantage on the water, but it should last much longer (no permanent bending). Also, it's possible to build them to tighter bending tolerances. Remains to be seen how that works out in practice.
 
No, it's just the regular aluminum mast (or whatever they make them out of - I am not an expert at Laser parts!). I didn't even know they made plastic masts. Is this a new thing? What would be the advantage of a plastic mast over the metal masts?
If I were you I would consider returning the new alu mast and buying a plastic one.
It's more expensive but it will probably be the last top mast you'll ever buy. The alu mast will eventually fail and rip your sail in the process.
In the meantime, used the fixed old mast or borrow one from someone else.
Where are you located?
E
 
I'm in Ontario. I have looked around online since it was mentioned here, and in Canada the suppliers either don't have them listed for sale or they are all on pre-order. And I won't buy one from the US because the duty will be too expensive. I don't know, it's a good thought but with the latest problems getting LP parts I don't trust a pre-order. My luck I would be waiting forever.

Besides, he already has the new mast. He picked it up yesterday and sailed with it at CORK today.
 

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