Storm-damaged mast forestay repair

Winston Collinge and his boating pal John Beck repair the mast of a 40-year-old Colvic Atlanta following severe weather

- Winston Collinge

Strong winds were forecast in January 2023 but nothing we had not seen before. Resolute, a Colvic Atlanta, was cosily tied up in a freshwater berth in a canal basin at Glasson Marina, Lancaster.

But at 0200 her owner Winston had a phone call from the very diligent-and sleepless-next door boat owner saying the forestay and foresail had been carried away and were in the water.

That is the sort of thing that certainly gets a sailor out of bed and by 0600 it was clear the attachment to the top of the mast had broken away near the point where it was welded to the truck.

The aluminium had been torn like paper, maybe made more brittle by the heat of the weld. There was also a suspicious-looking repair, with stainless steel wrapped around the aluminium and rather crudely fixed. By some miracle the mast was still upright, held up by a wing and a prayer, but the boom had been dislodged from the gooseneck and was hanging by the main halyard.

The foresail halyard, an 8mm rope, was snapped like a piece of string. Another miracle was the foresail being still perfectly furled and held on to the forward part of the boat by the bow fixing although most of the foresail was in the water. So we had something to work with.

The worst of the storm was over but the wind was still too strong to unfurl any sails. The first job was to secure the mast so it would not come crashing down onto the wheelhouse, so we removed the boom to lighten the load.