Beam protection

[paul anderson]

Hi all

I removed the mast beam today, untying the lashings and noticed the top of the beams had been crushed slightly by the rope lashings. (rope indentations)

To avoid more wear and tear when afloat would it be a simple case of gluing some hardwood strips on top of the beams ?

Including those that are in the plans for the leading edge of the beams ?

Does anyone have a different solution ?

all the best

P.

[laurent]

hello Paul, do you have dolphin striker for tiki 26 mast beam  ? Because i bough the tiki wingsail sheets conversion for tikiroa from Hanneke  . She didn't draw  any dolphin striker . The main beam is supposed strong enough ... When i see the weight of one beam ( 45 kg!) , i really would like to change for alu ...

[paul anderson]

Laurent,yes all the tiki 26 have a dolphin striker in their plans.The effectiveness of the striker over such a short span is questionable though? I followed the plans and added the striker.Aluminum beams would be my solution if i was building again.

[Patrick John McGrath]

Still think steel I beams are the go. No dolphin striker required. Steel no heavier than solid wood and can be through bolted via the flange to the reinforced gunnels. Rubber pad can be under the flange if you think it is required, but the steel beams have their own subtle flexability. Worked well for us on a Tehini. 

[Robert Hughes]

The mast beam on the glass Tiki 26's from Imagine Multihulls doesn't have a dolphin striker.  It's quite a heavy beam made from a glassfibre shell with wood reinforcement inside.  I've often wondered about making a lighter one from carbon fibre...  Expensive though!