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How to repair a broken, but repairable CF wingmast
One of the very few carbon fiber masts designs that IS repairable, is a mast with a Central Web that can protect the section from being crushed and totally destroyed.
Typically, a mast without a central web will be crushed under high load, with the sides coming together and the edges at the front and rear splitting-open over a considerable vertical distance. See Comparison SKETCH with initial Postmortem Report (25% down)
When the original section is destroyed in this manner there is little hope of any repair, so the extra value of a mast with a central web that will generally prevent this, can be significant.
The value and success of the central web in a Waters WingMast was clearly demonstrated Aug 2022, when a W17 was lifted off a boat lift by a freak high wind. taken totally airborn where it flipped upside down, and then allowed to fall mast first on to a stone beach, with a loaded boat (~450lb) then crashing down directly on top of it, so hard that the 3/4” diam S/S beam-mounted pivot pin was driven totally through the mast side wall.
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Despite all this and the brutal fracture of the mast into two parts, the central web kept the mast section intact and after 2 months of part-time work, the mast and boat were totally restored to their original state.
“Long Live Magic” ;-)
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As such a mast repair requires some new techniques, it is Fully Detailed here for anyone interested (pdf)
A short video covering the mast parts alignment can be accessed here.
Any reader wishing to learn more about the original mast, click here: Waters WingMast Mkl
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Before
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Repair and After
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Mike ..... Jan 2023
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