After an enlightening weekend at the coast and much education on the physical properties of aluminium, I have decided to hold on to the punctured mast.



My new mast, while perfectly straight while sailing, has a 3 degree bend in it while not under shroud tension. We set up sawhorses and got a cement bucket full of rocks and water and a centre-block and ratched it right on the bend with a bit of success. Then came the removal of the old broken comptip. It had snapped off and left just the portion that is sunk inside the aluminium extrusion left inside, and to make matters worse, it was sealed with epoxy.



So I went to the hardware store and bought a heat gun that could go up to 1000deg F. Wasn't hot enough, after thouroughly heating the alum, the epoxy was coming out but not quickly enough to pull the whole piece out.... it was splintering and shredding under the vice grips. So we went sailing on the 18sx with 4 people in 20-25mph winds, which was fun, and wet, and destructive



When we got back, we found the propane torch, and decided to flambay the sucker. 5 minutes with that torch and we had a charred comp-tip stump.



The old mast, we decided, can be fixed with a welded stiffening plate over the puncture. Its below the sail track, so I don't have to worry about that. So now I'll have two masts that aren't exactly in a state of perfection, but two working masts are better than none.



Thanks for all the help guys.