Dismasted!

Sharing a bit of a disaster and looking for some advice…

Sailing from Grenada to Carriacou yesterday, we lost our rig on Bonny Doon — a 2015 575 with a Selden mast, Furlerboom furling boom, and a Furlex headsail furler. Winds were moderate (18-21 kn) and seas were moderate (probably 2m). We were motor sailing with a double reef in the main and a sliver of jib out. As far as we can tell, the dismasting was triggered when the headstay broke at the sta-lok connector at the bow — there was a loud noise and we noticed the backstay dramatically sagging. For about 15-30 seconds, the jib halyard held everything together and we started to take the load off the rig (furling in the jib and starting to drop the main). Before we got too far though, the jib halyard broke, the jib came down, and then the mast snapped at deck level. The boom kicker and the gooseneck separated from the mast and we were left with the boom (after smashing into our dodger) sitting on the port gunwale — it’s complete but has some damage and would need repairs. The mast fell over the boom into the water off the port side while the furled jib fell onto the water on the starboard side. We spent what seemed like an eternity but was probably 10 minutes using hand tools and an angle grinder to disconnect the shrouds, cut the retaining lines, separate the mainsail from the boom, and cut through the furled jib just above the deck. The rig sank into the ocean but unfortunately we had managed to wrap some of the spinnaker halyard and the courtesy flag line around our prop so we couldn’t use the engine. The Grenada coast guard arrived after about an hour and spent three hours towing us back to St. George (THANK YOU Grenada Coast Guard!). After a diver came to remove the lines from our prop, we were able to make it safely back to dock. No one hurt and the hull intact — just some scratches in the gel coat on the port side hull and gunwale. 

We’re now thinking about repairs — both where to do it and what to the new rig should look like. If anyone has advice on the following, I’d love to hear from you…

- Rigging repairs in the Caribbean: we’re in Grenada now - any recommendations where to have repairs done? There is a local option but we’re also thinking about Trinidad, St. Lucia, or Martinique.

- Mast: is there a beefier option than Selden that we should be thinking about?

- Main furling: we’ve found the Furlerboom finicky (boom-mast angle needs to be perfect and the boat needs to be heading straight into wind to easily furl) and squeaky (big mass means lots of securing lines to stop it moving in rolly conditions). Are there better boom furling alternatives? Should we be thinking about mast furling instead (I have concerns about reduced sail performance and mast strength)?

- Headsail furling: I’ve learned that some furling options (e.g., ProFurl) rely on an independent headstay (e.g., with a swaged connector) instead of an integral stay using sta-lok connector. If anyone has had positive experience with ProFurl and specs on what works with a 575, I’d love to hear about it…

Any feedback much appreciated!!

-Mainer

 

Thanks for the feedback, Marsella. I actually got a call from Raphan this morning and we chatted things through. His perspective was that both boom and mast furling work but they have different strengths / weaknesses and it’s really a matter of personal preference. He offered to help us if we can get up to Antigua but didn’t think it would be feasible for him to try to do anything if we’re down in Grenada. 

Question: about how many nautical miles were on the boat since new?