F39 new mast collars for Pacific Crossing

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Windblown
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2019 7:13 pm

F39 new mast collars for Pacific Crossing

Post by Windblown »

After 3 years of sailing my Freedom Express 39 cat ketch's i finally decided to upgrade the mast footing. Like some on this forum i have experienced creaking and slight movement on both my mizzen and main masts. The deck on the main was also displaying fine cracks from this movement. Personally i think this is a design and manufacturers flaw.

The previous owner tried to secure the base of the masts using a single bracket on the mizzen and double bracket on the main but on a recent trip in the sea of cortez the one bracket broke on the main and the other seemed ready to break. We arrived in La Paz Mexico where we found another cat ketch freedom owned by Doug who years before had a similar issue. He had installed two stainless steel collars at the base of each mast and this had solved the creaking and movement issues. To prevent the need to pull both masts and install a circular collar we manufactured halves that bolted together as well as bolted to the foot of the boat. We crossed the pacific early in 2022 encountering numerous storms and heavy wind and sea conditions on our way to Tahiti however this time with a sense of security and way less movement or creaking from the masts. Pic attached for those interested
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Pic of the stainless collars
Pic of the stainless collars
IMG_8675 Small.jpeg (33.31 KiB) Viewed 739 times

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