One of the most talked about yachts of 2012, the J Class Rainbow, replica of the 1934 America’s Cup defender, joined three other Js in the Solent for a historic race series in July, pursued by hundreds of spectator boats.
However, the yacht was noticeably absent for the final race around the Isle of Wight. The night before, Marine Results had been called up by Dean Harper of Southern Spars in New Zealand who was racing on the boat, to say that the mast had been damaged when an inboard batten fitting had broken away from the batten car during the final inshore race of the four-race series. One of the Marine Results team went aloft to carry out an ultrasonic inspection of the back face of the mast.
We recommended that the mast be removed to enable a more detailed inspection to be carried out, and we coordinated with the yacht’s support crew and other suppliers to prepare a repair schedule. The yacht then returned to Holland Yachtbouw where she was built and Marine Results’ Ed Danby was in attendance for a more detailed ultrasound survey of the mast damage and assessment of the work to be done.
