FLYING AT HALF MAST
Laser's owners had already decided that the aerial system needed rebuilding they were assisted in this during a severe North Easterly gale on Monday 5th January 1987 when the front aerial mast collapsed on the deck in a tangled mass. Due to it being in an exposed position it took the full force of the wind and waves, the back mast was sheltered by the superstructure of the vessel and was not as badly affected as the front one, although it was bent halfway up due to the weight of the collapsed front mast and aerial pulling on it.
Fortunately there were two sections of lattice support in the ships hold, so the crew and Dennis the Bus proceeded to use these pieces to build up the rear mast along with some sections salvaged from the front mast. They eventually succeeded in building up the back mast to 80 feet, quite an achievement considering the cold and bad weather conditions. A new tee aerial array was taken from this to the ships front mast, all being fed from the insulator.