I was part of the crew when the gaff jaw broke. The gaff was only half way up when it snapped.
Not sure what sort of tensions were applied to the top of the mast under these circumstances.
Having been glued using West system, i would feel very confident that the glue didn’t fail.
Also the de-lamination, as i saw it in the shed and as it appears in Bernies photos, looks a
very clean split with no timber splinters,or old glue, stuck to the sides of the split.
The split stops a few mm into the glued section at the bottom.
It would almost suggest that this section of the mast never had glue applied and has opened up due to weathering.
As the throat haul crane is screwed into this joint, without glue, may have exacerbated the problem
by allowing ingress of moisture.
A spline repair to a clean separation such as this, where the stresses have been released, would be
a very strong repair.
Cheers
Ainesley
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