Mast Wear Strips

mmadge

Member
Looking for input on wether or not they are worth putting on ( again).Had some on before and they really did not seem to reduce the wear on my Mast Step.Maybe they just need to be replaced?
 
I tried them and removed them. They will protect the mast, but if there is any sand around, they get sand grains imbedded in them and increase wear on the mast hole.
 
I was recommended not to use them (assuming you are talking about these teflon/whatever disks you put in the bottom of the mast step. Reason I was given is that they are flat and anything that gets under them will continue to grind away with all mast movement. However, the mast itself has those slot things in the plastic which allow grit to slide into the slots where they can move with the mast without grinding away.

It made sense to me (so I never bothered using the ones I had purchased). But maybe I was told rubbish - I can't claim specialist knowledge and am only repeating what I was told by people who do know more than I do.
 
My experience, they make it harder to step/unstep the mast in windy conditions. Also, you had to keep an eye on them and replace them as soon as the ends start to peel up. Else the peeling end will dig in and cause extra wear.
 
I notice on the APS Website that they only put them on the bottom of the lower section.Most of my wear is at Top of Mast Step.
 

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(assuming you are talking about these teflon/whatever disks you put in the bottom of the mast step.
Those disks are not what I meant and I don't think the original poster meant those either. I was referring to the adhesive strips that are applied to the sides of the mast.

I think the disks are worthwhile as long as a metal one is installed in the bottom of the mast tube. It's my understanding that newer boats have the metal disks. I added them to my very old Lasers. The metal disks are to be glued in place and protect the bottom of the hole from wear.
 
i agree to the above. good to have. keep them clean...sand will get trapped in the material and eat at the gelcoat.

Performance upgrade is it holds the mast a lighter straighter in the mast step. just a touch more,
 
Probably a stupid idea,but why not put the mast wear strips in the Mast step instead of on the mast?
 
That may be a better way to use the strips, but it may be hard to get them installed in the bottom of the mast hole. And sand imbedded in the strips will remove some metal from the mast. Maybe the best use of those strips is to put them on the mast and the mast step and replace them as they wear out.
 
Looking for input on wether or not they are worth putting on ( again).Had some on before and they really did not seem to reduce the wear on my Mast Step.Maybe they just need to be replaced?
I have noticed aluminum wearing off the mast and being ground into the fiberglass of the mast step. I do not use any of those mast wear tape strips.
 
...and I noticed the other day my boat capsized at the dock with little wind, which makes me wonder if there is excess friction in the mast step due to aluminum being worn into the inner fiberglass sides of the mast step.
 
...and I noticed the other day my boat capsized at the dock with little wind, which makes me wonder if there is excess friction in the mast step due to aluminum being worn into the inner fiberglass sides of the mast step.
I doubt that.
For me at least, the reason the boat capsizes at the dock is that the sheet gets caught around a corner of the stern.
 

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