Good Day Mates,
I have a 'new to me Laser' that was thrown into my hands. The boat must be early 80's, and it sails, but needs some TLC.
I just installed an inspection port on the foredeck to get a better look at what the issue is - it doesn't look too bad.
1. There is a crack in the hull underneath the mast step that leaks water. The crack is pretty straight, about 4 inches, and doesn't look terrible from the outside.
2. I believe this boat did not have a piece of stainless installed underneath the mast step because it was before that era.
3. The mast step has separated from the bottom of itself, about a quarter inch from the bottom, and I can tell this by pressing down around the mast hole in the deck and seeing movement down the tube - there is about a quarter inch of separation within the tube at the break.
4. I presume that the mast step was stressed down until it wore a crack in the hull, but also stressed a bit up the tube to cause the separation of the tube.
5. Since this laser is very old to begin with, I do not plan on racing too competitively. The donut looks like its in good shape, and the mast step isn't going to fail, but a little reinforcement might be needed. I understand that since the hull has flexed out by not being connected to the deck via the mast step, the 'give' in the hull will slow it down. My main concern is with the hole in the hull underneath the mast step. If I can fix both at the same time, that would be great, but I need to find perspective on the procedure.
6. I worked at Laser Performance one summer in college building 420s and Sunfish, so I am pretty capable of fixing the boat myself.
Any and all suggestions are welcome, and I am glad to be a new laser sailor!
Thank you.
I have a 'new to me Laser' that was thrown into my hands. The boat must be early 80's, and it sails, but needs some TLC.
I just installed an inspection port on the foredeck to get a better look at what the issue is - it doesn't look too bad.
1. There is a crack in the hull underneath the mast step that leaks water. The crack is pretty straight, about 4 inches, and doesn't look terrible from the outside.
2. I believe this boat did not have a piece of stainless installed underneath the mast step because it was before that era.
3. The mast step has separated from the bottom of itself, about a quarter inch from the bottom, and I can tell this by pressing down around the mast hole in the deck and seeing movement down the tube - there is about a quarter inch of separation within the tube at the break.
4. I presume that the mast step was stressed down until it wore a crack in the hull, but also stressed a bit up the tube to cause the separation of the tube.
5. Since this laser is very old to begin with, I do not plan on racing too competitively. The donut looks like its in good shape, and the mast step isn't going to fail, but a little reinforcement might be needed. I understand that since the hull has flexed out by not being connected to the deck via the mast step, the 'give' in the hull will slow it down. My main concern is with the hole in the hull underneath the mast step. If I can fix both at the same time, that would be great, but I need to find perspective on the procedure.
6. I worked at Laser Performance one summer in college building 420s and Sunfish, so I am pretty capable of fixing the boat myself.
Any and all suggestions are welcome, and I am glad to be a new laser sailor!
Thank you.