Bullimore's Mast Broken!

[Willallison]

It gives me no real pleasure to bring you all news that Tony Bullimore's mast has just - in the last hour - been broken whilst being craned ashore.
I was a few hundred metres away and heard the 'explosion' as his mast disintegrated.
A crane was being used to lift the mast ashore. They lowered it to the ground vertically, but when they tried to lay it down (unsupported by any stays) it snapped in half.
You gotta feel sorry for the poor bloke - Australia ain't exactly a happy hunting ground for him.....

[Mikey]

Bullimore seems to be one of those guys who should, well, do something else, or at least somewhere else. Most of the bad luck in the world seems to follow him around the world and double in magnitude when he reaches Australia. One thing is sure, he won't stop sailing and I must admire him for that (but not the million-dollar rescue efforts that sometimes come with it).

Just out of curiosity, what did they do wrong? Seems to me that it's a pretty long stick to lay down unsupported...

Mikey

[Willallison]

I didn't see it actually happen, but from what I can gather it snapped as they were trying to lay it down. I think they had a strop on at the top set of spreaders - and by the sound of it nothing further down....

[Willallison]

So - the bush telegraph has been tossing out incorrect info again...
Turns out it wasn't broken at all. One end was dropped a few feet - doing nothing more than scratching a bit of the paint off.
So rather than suggesting that the unsupported mast might not be all that strong, it suggests quite the opposite!!

"Mudda, Fadda, please disregard this letter...."

[longliner45]

williamson I must say your credibility is in question ,at least with me ,first you were within 100 yards of the explosion ,,now blaming it on the bush telegraph? cmon man...longliner

[Mikey]

Originally Posted by Willallison

I was a few hundred metres away and heard the 'explosion' as his mast disintegrated.

Originally Posted by longliner45

williamson I must say your credibility is in question ,at least with me ,first you were within 100 yards of the explosion ,,now blaming it on the bush telegraph? cmon man...longliner

Anyone notice the difference between "a few hundred meters" and "within 100 yards"?

[longliner45]

yes , you are correct ,but if I was 300meters away I would have investigated before reporting,,,/besides how long does it take to walk another 200 meters>>>>?

[longliner45]

ok I thought about it ,,,im the jerk here,,Willallisonsis ok ,,at least he corrected his error,,that means something to me ..just having a bad hair day ,,longliner

[Mikey]

Thanks Longliner, I really respect that last post, we all have bad days.

Here's a true joke
I was reading Marchaj's seaworthiness a week ago and my daughter pee'd on stability in a sea way part 2. Never mind, just another bad day

Mikey

[Willallison]

Righto - here's the full version.
As I walked into a shed where we are having some work done to our boat, I heard a LOUD bang. A few minutes later, a bloke comes in an says they've just busted Bullimore's mast in two. I had no reason to doubt him.
I was across the bay - and the boat was moored at a private berth - not walking distance, othewise you can bet your bottom dollar I'd have gone to check it out myself - a hundred K worth of busted carbon doesn't happen too often.
My apologies for leading you all astray - even though it was only for a couple of hours!