Thistlebase
Masts and Why They Break
Doug Laber provides a technical analysis of mast breakage in Thistle sailboats, focusing on heavy-air off-wind conditions. He explains the physics of column loading, sail forces, and mast deformations, then discusses three types of breakage mechanisms and strategies for prevention.
View original on Google Drive · page 9
The scanned issue opens in Google Drive; turn to page 9.
This is a summary. The full article text is © the Thistle Class Association — read the original scan via the link above.