Advice on my mast step repair Kit Vs Doing it my self.

[MrZimm]

Hi Sadly I blew my mast step apart this past weekend. Just like everyone no warning just a big loud crack. Anyways I'm not sure if I just repair it my self after reading the postings. Or should I get that ugly kit and really cut up the boat. Love to hear some feed back from my photos I'm about to post.

Thanks.

Z

 

[Ross B]

I would go with the mast step kit

or

cut the boat up, and turn it into a hiking bench, and buy a new boat, that boat looks like it has had a lot of good years behind it, and is ready for the pasture

 

[gouvernail]

It is a difficult repair to accomplish if the goal is solid and pretty.

It is not all that difficult to make a good solid "who cares how it looks?" repair.

If you feel your knowledge of fiberglass and general structure and sailboat stresses is somewhat adequate, spend your weekend and fix your toy.

If the repair looks like something you could easily do if you "just had a decent kit" buy the kit and bolt it in.

There is also a pretty good chance you can find a hull on Craigslist for about what you will spend repairing your toy.

And if you do it that way.

You can follow Ross' advice.

Ross for VP!!!,

 

[Merrily]

Ross for VP!!!,

You've missed the bit where he now wants to be President of the ILCA. He's going straight to the top.

 

[vtgent49]

It may be informative for some to study the last pic closely. Here it is again.

First notice the old plywood is rotten, with zero strength.
Then notice the two good sides of the step. They look quite good. And the fact is, all four sides looked pretty good until one second before this gave way.

To prevent this you have to use a lot of glass the firmly attach the tube to the hull, not just a little filler around the tube. There are other threads that discuss this, and Gouv has photos on his site.

I've responded privately, but the kit, or another hull are both good ideas, as thats a lot of damage.

Al

 

[MrZimm]

Curious about the kit... after you cut the big kit hole... there are two parts to it... do you glass it all or is there actualy some bolting? I haven't found any good instructions for it.

Z

 

[gouvernail]

You've missed the bit where he now wants to be President of the ILCA. He's going straight to the top.

The only campaign for President I have seen has been the one being conducted by the woman who was stalked by Freddie Eynsford-Hill after he decided he had fallen in love with her at the Ascot opening day.

Personally I would vote for each of them (not Freddie) to hold some position..


.But back to the thread.

The key to mast step streength is the joint beteen the hull and the tube. The tube absolutley must not be able to move from where it is securely fastened to the hull.
The connection will be pulled on by a 20 foot lever ( your mast ) when you stuff your mast tip on a slam dunk. It will always be pulled on by whatever force you place on your mainsheet multiplied by whatever mechanical advantage is created by your 2:1 mainsheet tackle being located at the outside tip of the boom.

Make it very strong!!!





just for the record I cannot vote for NA Class Officers. I am not a district secretary, I am not using any other names on this forum and I AM Fred.

 

[Mawill]

A friend of mine used the mast step kit on a very old boat with a blown tube.

His boat was rock solid afterwards - which surprised me a bit - Other boat with the same repair to me seem wobly. So I asked how he did it.

He had made an exact hull mold 1.5 feet wide across the bottom of the hull where the mast step joins the hull. He put in the step, placed a piece of ply over it and put a bunch of cinder blocks on it (with fiberglass etc). I am really not sure why this made such a huge difference, but it looked and performed as any other boat.

Don't really have much more than that.

BEst of luck,

matt