dismasted freedom 39 ph

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adam
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Joined: Wed Nov 30, 2022 5:46 pm

dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by adam »

just dismasted on way to mexico from hawaii nobody hurt more info later
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moy
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by moy »

Oh dear.... Good job you've got 2...!

What material is the mast made of, & what were the circumstances that led to this, if I might ask?

adam
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by adam »

mast is made of carbon fiber , cause of break unknown, light conditions when mast broke

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GeoffSchultz
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by GeoffSchultz »

I deleted the duplicate post in "Random Chatter" to keep all conversations related to this in a single post.

First off, so sorry that this happened, but I'm glad that no one was hurt. Did you continue to Hawaii or return to MX?

Next, I see what appears to be another crack higher up on the mast, and from the stains coming down from it, it doesn't appear to be new. What's the story with that?

And, did you ever fly a spinnaker? If so, from where on the mast?

-- Geoff
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1997 Freedom 40/40
http://www.GeoffSchultz.org

adam
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by adam »

hi geoff , thanks for your concern, mast came down about 1/5 the way to mexico so we opted to motor back to hawaii, there is not another crack the place you are referring to is a slight bulge from the splice { mast was made in 2 parts ) and is where the spare halyards slap and wore off the white paint, , no spinnaker was ever flown from this mast / no fittings ever installed on mast other than sail track and no lightning strike , mast was visually inspected and sounded with a rubber mallet every 8 inches prior to every departure, mast came down in 12 knots of wind beam reach and calm seas , Adam

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GeoffSchultz
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by GeoffSchultz »

This is the area I was asking about. There certainly does seem to be something other than halyard slap going on. Not that it really matters, as that isn't where it broke, but I'm just curious. And I'm just amazed at how clean the break is.

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adam
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by adam »

we have had extensive conversations with eric schonberg and physical testing by carbon fiber expert . the best we can tell is failure by fatigue,

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gamayun
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by gamayun »

I had the same questions as Geoff. Is this the original mast? What year was it? That it came down in 12 knots seems really strange. Is the main mast built the same? I am so curious about this because there is so little information on failure of these masts. My single one from 1988 seems to have been built to withstand 10 gorillas jumping on it simultaneously. Glad I've never tested that.

Sorry for these troubles. Very glad to hear all are safe and you were able to get the boat back.
Kynntana, Freedom 38

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gamayun
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by gamayun »

This is the other area that I was curious about. From my untrained and inexpert eye, it looks like the mast was built in four sections, but maybe the connecting pieces were superficially laid up?
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Kynntana, Freedom 38

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newt2u
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Re: dismasted freedom 39 ph

Post by newt2u »

It looks to me as though both the fracture point and the ring/stain above it correspond to a sleeve used to join the two sections of the mast. If so this is always going to be a point of weakness. However if laid up correctly, this should not be a problem, the fact that the joint is visible and has staining says to me this was a manufacturing fault.

I too am interested in the failure of these CF masts, I know my F21, from inspection is a single layup but am thinking ion getting F28, with longer masts.Does anyone know if manufacturing these masts in two (or more) sections is the norm?
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Rockin - F21 twin drop keels - located Whitehaven, Cumbria, UK

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