How We Repaired The Mast & Rigging On 'Mathilda'

In August 2018 we were contacted by a young couple in Sweden, who had recently purchased Mathilda, a Morgan Out Island 41 Ketch.

Bound for the Caribbean, they requested a quote to replace their standing rigging, prior to crossing the Bay of Biscay and the Atlantic.

Swapping emails, we were able to specify the components and prepare a full assessment with the aim of completing the work within 3 days so they could continue their voyage.

Using AIS Ship tracking, we followed their progress from Sweden and ensured we were ready to start the re-rig process upon Mathilda’s arrival in late September.

Senior rigger Ben took the lead role on the project and during his first mast climb, spotted that the spreaders were badly damaged near the spreader roots and all the existing standard rigging was hanging off incorrectly sized clevis pins - to small in diameter. As a result of this, we made the decision to immediately un-step the mast and investigate the damage further.

Calling upon the expertise of Seaweld Fabrications to assess the damage and help us formulate a plan to repair spreaders whilst re-designing the spreader roots that caused the original damage. Seaweld also took the opportunity to drill out the mast tangs to enable larger clevis pins to be fitted.

We also discovered that the old furler system had bent foils and a badly damaged luff groove. With this furler model now obsolete, replacement spares were impossible to source. It was difficult for us to keep delivering bad news to the owners and we really felt for this lovely Scandinavian couple.

Fortunately, we carry a full range of Harken furlers and were able to offer them an excellent price on the Harken furler, enabling us to lower their costs on a project that had gone severely over budget.

Although the additional work meant the original turnaround time was no longer achievable, the rigging team worked overtime and managed to say ‘Bon Voyage’ to the Mathilda within 5 days.

With extra time in port and under our watchful eye, the owners took the opportunity to undertake much of the mast & winch servicing themselves which was greatly appreciated.

Mathilda is now in the Canary Islands preparing for an Atlantic passage – you can follow her adventures via their travel blog -  it's in Swedish but Google Translate will sort that out for you!

A special mention should go to Senior rigger Ben – who not only put in additional overtime but successfully managed the project without any issues.