Team Philips - Noble comments on masts

Each of Team Philips 2.5-ton masts (3.3 tons including the wishbone and mainsail) slots into the hull like pens into inkwells. There is a self-aligning bearing at deck level and massive structure below, including bulkheads fore and aft of the mast step.

Between the bulkheads, a bronze cup at the bottom of each mast sits on a melon-sized titanium ball. The ball-and-socket joint gives the spars full 360-degree manoeuvrability.

‘The mast has a socket (a bronze, half-spherical cup), which was bonded in the heel of the mast,’ said Noble. ‘The socket rotates on the titanium ball fitted in the bottom of the hull. We also had a horizontal ring, bolted under the equator line of the ball, which was designed to stop the mast from jumping out. The ring has a split at its diameter in order to be bolted easily around the ball.

‘On the damaged mast, the ring stayed on the ball, but was totally twisted. All of the bolts were bent,’ Noble continued. ‘When the ring came under too much load, the cup was twisted out inside the carbon. The cup and the ring stayed locked on the ball, but acted like a drill under the loads and mast hopping. Free to move, the bottom of the mast rammed the forward bulkhead, causing some damage. There were also minor scratches to the side of the hull. We have been quite lucky!’

The enormous loads on designs like Team Philips, one of five boats built expressly for The Race, are the primary concern for these 110- to 120-foot multi-hulls, which are virtually being developed from scratch. Noble, who has been designing wing-shaped spars for multi-hulls since the mid-1980s now has a greater understanding of the pressure exerted on the spars.

‘When we had a look at the undamaged mast, we noticed that the socket had twisted by 15 degrees,’ said Noble. ‘The bond had failed also. We begin to understand better the huge sideways loads at the rotation place. Probably 40 to 50 tons.’

The fundamentals of the bearing will remain the same in that it will be a ball and socket joint. There will be a new cup in the base of both masts, designed to offer less friction, and structure will be added to the mast base to accept increased torque loading.

‘We have decided to change the whole design of the rotating system,’ said Noble. ‘A new, stronger ring has been designed with a vertical split, instead of horizontal like the first one. The two parts of the ring are bolted with 12mm bolts. Shaped like a kind of inverted flower pot, the ring will accept stronger sideways loads and prevent the mast from moving vertically.’

Calvin Resigns

As Team Philips undergoes its second major repair since its launching last March, speculation is rampant as to whether the wave-piercing craft with free-standing masts can survive a rugged race around the world. Already, it hasn’t sailed past the Scilly Isles without calamity.

Skipper Pete Goss is steadfast in his belief that Team Philips is a seaworthy vessel, but at least one crewmember, Mike Calvin, believes there won’t be sufficient time to determine its seaworthiness. Calvin, who sailed with Goss in the 1992-93 British Steel Challenge race around the world, resigned last week for personal and philosophical reasons.

‘I continue to believe in the potential of the boat, and the people involved in the project, but Pete and I have agreed to disagree about the nature of its development, said Calvin, one of England’s leading sportswriters who was one of the first two crewmembers selected for Team Philips.

‘Goss selected his crew because he believed we had the mentality of test pilots, not kamikaze pilots,’ Calvin wrote in a story published Oct. 29 in the Mail on Sunday. ‘Having survived two calamities at sea this year I could not countenance giving the boat a third chance to kill me by sailing into the Southern Ocean without undergoing a realistic test of its strength.’

Said Goss, ‘Whilst I do not agree with Mike, I do respect and understand his position. Ultimately, the decision as to whether the boat goes or not rests with me and hinges on safety. The rest of the team remain confident, and I do not believe that now is the time to make that decision.’

Team Philips is expected to be back at sea mid-to-late November.

First published on QuokkaSailing.com, republished with permission.