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Fordeck light / jib conflict

daynardi

Member II
Tacked in 20 knot wind. Jib snagged on the Aquasignal motoring and fordeck light on the
front of my mast, tore it off, ripped the wiring out of the mast. Messy.

The boat is an '85 E-32 with a Kenyon mast. The motoring light is mounted about a foot above the lower spreader, where there is a nice reinforced port for the wiring to exit the mast.

This has happened to us before. Is it common for the jib to snag the motoring light or is it a symptom of bad technique? What do people do
to prevent this? Is there a smaller or bomb-proof version of the light or some kind of guard that can be added to it?

Any advice before I start trying to replace the demolished wiring? I still have one of the three leads sticking out of the mast (the others
broke inside). I hope to tie a messenger line on to this remaining wire and pull it down the mast, then use the line to fish a new cable up. Will this work? Is the wiring free to pull out from the bottom?

-DA
 

Sean Engle

Your Friendly Administrator
Administrator
Founder
Has to be a freak accident...

I have the same mast/light setup on my E35-3. That has to be a freak accident. I would bet that the space between the light and the mast (created by the uneven attachment of the light to the mast) caught your jib, then loaded and came apart under the load.

I caught my safety strap on my climbing harness on my light, because of that space (the strap went up into the space, which then hung me up). I bet something similar happened to you...

My guess would be that if you replace the light, and use some kind of a gasket material (like closed cell foam, etc) to eliminate the space, you would be fine......

//sse
 
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