sealing mast against water

[Mike C]

for any reason , that you know , is it best to seal the top and bottom of the mast , or not , (after the wires are in of course) to keep the water out , to control noise and to ?????perhaps keep it from sinking in an emergency . I don't know if filling a aluminium (normal) mast of any given size would keep it floating or not but that is a lot of air volume

[Parfait's Provider]

Presuming you have internal halyards, I don't think you are going to find sealing the mast a simple job. If it leaks even a little, you will also want to leave the foot open so there is somewhere for the water to drain. Even condensation inside the mast would be a problem.

If you have a bi-stable boat like a catamarn or trimaran, not an Alberg keel boat, then an auto-inflating bag at masthead might keep you from turning turtle and that would be good; if a keelboat rolls, it might be best to let it keep going than to stop it with floation at the masthead, which would tend to remove the mast.

[Steve Laume]

I have just re read Godforsaken Sea about the 1996-1997 Vendee Globe race. You might add open 60 Vendee Globe boats to the list of bi stable craft. One of the boats rolled, dismasted and then remained inverted with keel intacted in Southern Ocean waves. Some of these boats weigh less than a CD-33 and they are trying to manage the worst weather in the world single handed. It kind of puts things into a different perspective. We have some mighty seaworthy boats, Steve.