While work continues on several areas of LUCIE we have paid special attention to the mast repair (see blog entry 01/20/14). New cap shroud tangs were designed with rotating dog bones to attach the runners – once the hardware was fabricated we could continue the repair on the mast. As you may recall the combined load of the runners and the cap shroud had pulled a piece of G10 tube thru the mast which had caused us to pull the mast last summer during a regatta and do a temporary fix.
The new hardware is laid out for proper load distribution into the mast and has an improved fastening schedule. For the mast repair itself we were looking at some crushed wood and an elongated hole in the starboard side (where the previous G10 tube had move thru the mast). As we did not want to add a dutchman into the side walls of the mast for structural reasons we opted for a new custom made G10 tube with a larger OD at the ends where it meets the walls of the mast and a smaller diameter for the tie rod that connects the cap shroud fittings. The larger OD at the ends of the G10 tube was made just large enough to take care of the crushed wood and elongation of the hole. The key to installing this obviously was the need to get this new piece in perfectly level and drill in such a way that in fact all previously damaged area would be taken out. There now is a drilling jig for the LUCIE mast at our shop…
Having such a large hole in the side of the mast allowed for inspection of the inside of the mast, some halyard sorting and general control before the new G10 dog bone went permanently into the mast. All that is left now is to fit the new hardware around the shape of the mast and fasten it in, which will happen after some fresh varnish. The mast is now heading for brightwork…
In the meantime the bottom of LUCIE is making great progress – stay tuned for more info…
Jens
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