Old Aluminum Mast -- Replace?

[triton318]

I have a 1962 Pearson Triton with the original mast. In about three years, I plan to sail this boat around the world. Should the age of this mast automatically qualify it to be replaced? Can a 46 year old aluminum mast be as strong as it was when it was new? I understand it would need to be inspected carefully for corrosion and cracks. I guess what I'd really like to know is this: does aluminum lose strength and structural integrity with age? If it doesn't, and an inspection shows no cracks or serious corrosion issues, would the mast be as strong as a newer one? Also, would welding small pieces of a compatible alloy of aluminum over holes help? Thanks.

[Brian Duff]

The mast is very likely fine. The amount of flex allowed by an average rig tune on a fixed backstay boat such as a Triton should mean that the mast has had no fatigue or other detrimental wear. Inspect it and if its found corrosion and crack free, rock on.

On another note i would be more in doubt of the hull of a 46 year old boat. Fiberglass hulls that old are often found to be brittle and not nearly as strong as the resins we use now. I am by no means a fiberglass expert, but I have been instructed by local experts to avoid and mistrust such old hulls. Maybe its just 'buy new boat-itus' but I am not sure.

Plus a Triton is damn slow for a trip like that, good lord. Newer designs are much much faster! (of course I have a W32 so who am I to call you out...)

[Brion Toss]

Hello,
Probably want to avoid any welding, partly because it is very difficult to do without making things worse, and partly because the urge to do it appears to stem from ignorance. Take the mast as an entry into the nature of the rig. Start researching its properties, and expand out into the larger flow of forces. When you understand the rig, you'll do right by it.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

[Jim Fulton]

Originally Posted by Brian Duff

On another note i would be more in doubt of the hull of a 46 year old boat. Fiberglass hulls that old are often found to be brittle and not nearly as strong as the resins we use now. I am by no means a fiberglass expert, but I have been instructed by local experts to avoid and mistrust such old hulls. Maybe its just 'buy new boat-itus' but I am not sure.

As the owner of an older fiberglass boat, I would be very interested in seeing something besides hearsay to validate this assertion. I understand--again, by hearsay--that smaller boats with hulls that are thin and unreinforced (e.g., smaller daysailors and powerboats) do tend to soften up and become prone to oilcanning after several years of hard use, but I have never heard that larger hulls with more robust layup schedules get brittle. Most fiberglass boats built in the '60s and '70s were substantially overbuilt by today's standards; many are still going strong and are sailing all over the world.

Jim Fulton

[Brian Duff]

I second what Jim is saying, and myself own an early 70's heavy fiberglass sailboat.

I confirm that that coment is hearsay - Its what the 'guy around town' say. I am quite sure I have read it in a number of texts on the subject of yacht design and building, and will try and dig up those referneces some day, and post them here. None the less, I reinforce that I have no direct expirience with 'brittle' hulls, nor am I an expert in the composites or boat building by any means.

Sail safe ?

[billknny]

Old hulls getting "brittle" doesn't make a lot of sense. If you have ever seen cured raw,
unre-enforced polyester or epoxy resin it is VERY brittle right from the get-go. It is only the glass fiber that makes it strong and flexible.

I have never heard of an old, well built hull that had to be abandoned becuase of "brittle" fiberglass.