[Public-List] Mast Beam Variation

[Gordon Laco]

I would totally agree - the mast beam is subjected to immense stress, and as
John commented, dynamic loads in normal sailing let alone heavy weather
multiply the load experienced while at the dock.

The beam has to resist the combined loading of all the shrouds and stays -
thousands of pounds.

Gord #426


> Jeffrey wrote:
>>  I don't think our mast beams are subjected
>> to all that much stress.
>>   
> 
> You might be surprised just how much stress is involved there. That's a
> heck of a compression load point loaded in one spot - and it's dynamic
> in any kind of seaway.
> 
> There are documented cases that these have failed at-sea, and it's a
> common problem with wooden supports of this kind (see for example the
> number of boats in Vigor's "Twenty Small Boats to Take You Anywhere"
> that have this as a maintenance issue).
> 
> This is one structural issue that can affect the safety/seaworthiness of
> the vessel, and personally I would not do anything less than the
> absolute strongest support I could engineer if I had any lack of
> confidence in my installation at all.