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Marstrom want to express some concerns regarding the Tornado masts. The load on the bottom tube can be very high in extreme cases. We have had a few masts opening up in the bottom against the foot. In general we like to ask the sailors to be cautious when using extreme Cunningham loads and rigg settings. We regret that the mast foot in a few cases have not been supporting the mast tube well enough. ÊWe have taken steps to strengthen the area for normal use of Cunningham load and rigg settings.
To sum this up:
1. The mast is not designed for more cunningham load than 1:8. Marstrom can take no responsibility for breakages when using more purchase than this.
2. We have had a few mast foots earlier in the production which did not support the mast tube well enough.
3. We have reinforced the bottom of the mast tube from mast no 309 and onwards. The mast foot mould was improved at the same time.
4. As a precaution we advise sailors who use excessive Cunningham loads (sometimes combined with extreme diamond tension and spreader angels) to reinforce the mast tube bottom part. We believe that the masts no 309 and onwards are strong enough.
Instructions:
1. Grind off the clear coat coat outside layer with some 80-paper.
2. Laminate a 25mm stripe of UD (unidirected carbon fibre) impregnated with epoxy. Wrapped around 3-4 turns it will do the job.
3. Finish off with 2 turns of peel ply and some tape. The reason is to apply pressure and to soak up excessive resin. A nylon stocking can be used as well.
4. Leave to harden approx 24 hours in 20 degrees.
If the weekend weather is poor, it might be interesting to view this set up against this very long thread: http:/