When a round the world trip being undertaken by the sailing superyacht Ahimsa (formerly Aglaia) was interrupted due to a lightning strike in Costa Rica, the services of Marine Results were called upon. Ed Danby flew in to the scene and after he carried out an initial local inspection the yacht was moved to San Diego to have the rig pulled out. There, it became apparent that Ahimsa’s towering 83m (272ft) mast is probably the largest ever to be unstepped in the United States.
When Ed first arrived to inspect the rig for possible damage he spent four days up in the rig of the 66m (216ft) sloop carrying out a thorough NDT advanced ultrasound inspection. It was then that the yacht was moved to San Diego where there were facilities that enabled the rig to be removed by a team from Marine Results. The mast and rigging were given a further inspection using the company’s advanced NDT equipment.
All the fittings were dismantled and a report was made to the mast manufacturer ready for insurance purposes. Ed comments “We were able once again to mobilise our international team at short notice, this time to San Diego. At the same time we were able to take care of a range of logistics, including arranging for the mast cradles to be built locally.”
The rig is expected to be reassembled in February, when the yacht can resume her trip. Our image shows the rig coming of a barge in San Diego. The rig had to be removed from the yacht onto the barge, then the yacht was moved out of the way, and the barge moved into the same dock area.