Day: August 15, 2016

SageCat Update

So what happened with SageCat’s mast?

In Monterey when SageCat’s mast came down Jerry Montgomery believed that the rotation knuckle on top of the tabernacle post failed.  At the time this could not be confirmed as the knuckle had been driven down into the tabernacle post and could not be inspected.

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This photo is of SageCat’s broken tabernacle post just after she was put back on her trailer in Monterey, CA. The knuckle is inside the post so at the time this picture was taken we were unsure ‘what had broken first’.

Upon return to Golden, Colorado, we removed the tabernacle post from SAGECAT and found that the leading edges of the knuckle’s plate had failed.

The broken knuckle. This part is a modified late 1970s part that was used on the Montgomery Panther.
Close up view of the failed tabernacle post.

What cannot be confirmed is if the plate failed and then broke through the tabernacle post, or the post failed and this resulted in the knuckle’s plate failing as the mast fell.

This broken rotation knuckle is from a Montgomery Panther.  The Panther is a 17′ raceboat Jerry built for a few years in the 1980s.  The post is, or was, an aluminum casting.  Yes, the prototype part was made 30+ years ago.

We have made a new, stronger, tabernacle post and machined a new, stronger, knuckle.

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New interim rotation knuckle on the left, the broken modified Montgomery Panther version on the right.  As Sage Marine is part of Spyderco knives the new knuckle was CAD designed and then CNC milled out of a block of 6061 aluminum.

These new components have been installed on ASOLARE, the Sage 15 sloop, for testing.

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Improved tabernacle post, interim prototype rotating mast post and chainplates installed on Sage 15 ASOLARE.

Dave did sail the catboat rigged ASOLARE the 6th of August … and again on Chatfield Reservoir on 12 August … but only light winds were blowing on each lake.  We continue to wait for strong wind, 15+ knots, to confirm the serviceability of the new setup.

So there you have it, prototype boat testing means there will be failures and things needing improvement.  Sage Marine tests boats hard.  We, meaning Sage Marine, do this in order to assure owners the craft is safe and seaworthy in real world conditions.