Carbon Fibre Bow Pole: Finishing the America’s Cup Front End
The bow pole is the top section of the same America’s Cup mast that became the front beam and longeron. It had all its original halyard exits and fittings still attached when we got it, which created both opportunities and problems — some hardware was useful to keep, some needed to come off, and wherever carbon met metal the corrosion question had to be answered.
Carbon and aluminium in a saltwater environment act as a battery. The aluminium corrodes fast — in some cases within days. Shayne learned this lesson the hard way on a 14-foot skiff early in his career, fitting carbon fibre bow sprit hardware with aluminium pop rivets. Three days into a regatta the rivets had corroded through and the fitting flew off downwind. Not ideal.
The solution is Tef-Gel — an anti-corrosion paste that sits between the carbon and any metal fastener and stops the galvanic reaction. Every screw, every pin, every metal fitting on this bow pole got Tef-Gel. It’s expensive, it never hardens, and no boat working with carbon should be without it. The alternative for threaded fasteners where you want some thread-locking effect is Duralac — the predecessor to Tef-Gel, more toxic, hardens permanently, still used in the professional game as a kind of heavy-duty Loctite with corrosion resistance built in.
The forestay fitting required a small piece of pre-preg carbon bonded inside a tight space in the pole — fiddly work, done with what Shayne calls his secret technique for potting screws so they can be removed cleanly the next morning. He’s shared that with two people. We’ll leave it there.
First coat of paint went on over the carbon to match the rest of the front end. De-nip, second coat, then the trampoline could go on. France was four weeks away.
This post is part of the complete Paikea front end rebuild — from the first beam sections to sea trial. If you want the detail behind the composite and rigging work, the members’ technical library is where we go deep. Join here.