Hobie Cat Forums

My buddy just had a tree fall on his boat sadly it is toast. Not so sadly
I scored a bunch of free parts. Pls excuse multiple threads,'I have a
few questions.

My existing mast has some fairly bad corrosion and pitting
On the tube. The new to me mast looks much better, however
It does have a slight lateral bend. I think the bent one if straightened
Would be a better mast.

The bend is lateral and fairly slight. Is it ok to straighten it and
How do I do it?

Sorry about the odd grammar and new lines, I phone

If you're careful, you can straighten a slightly bent mast.

One method involves using two trees spaced a few feet apart - put the mast between the trees and with a helper, slowly work the kink out.

Whatever method you use, go slowly and check for straightness often by sighting down the mast.

http://www.papertigercatamaran.org/images/media/masts_-_bender_mender.pdf
look at this, it looks legit and i want to try it on mine.

_________________
http://youtube.com/optikid16030

1983 Hobie 16 Cat fever #55697
2008 Laser Radial/4.7 #190471
S.S.S.
S.Y.S.P

For what it's worth I did this with my 17 mast. An "incident" in the surf in Atlantic City. The piece of padding (he's recommending 1/2" lumber) at the point of bend is really important to avoid a kink, ruining the mast. You need to overbend a lot, mine was probably four feet out of straight to get a small amount of bend.

Go slowly. Check often. Good luck.