sealing the mast

7

73657

New Member
Is it possible/smart to seal and pressurize the mast so that no water gets in adding weight while you are sailing? Is this legal?
 
the top section should be relitivly well sealed as it is, you couldn't really seal the botton section as the top slots down into it.

plus its not class legal, A few years back when i was sailin in toppers, we races mainly in the sea and if i capsized the top section would fill with water making it extreamly hard work to right the boat again, so what i did was to fill the top of the mastwith expanding foam so that when it hit the water no water came in around the mast head, i no its not legal but i suppose for club level it would be alright, BUT check first,
 
I would recommend against sealing the mast with foam. We had one once and it was HEAVY! Over time the foam actually absorbed/trapped water in the mast which made it much heavier than getting some water in would have been. I have seen some discussions for other classes like 420s and such where clubs would insert pipe insulation or pool noodles into the mast for the club boats. These types of mast are pretty open to begin with and the pool noodles and pipe insulation are closed cell foam so they won't absorb any water. I suppose one could take the cap off a mast section and try stuffing closed cell foam in there but that seems like a lot of work.

Try some silicone sealant on the rivets maybe or better yet work on capsize recoveries so you don't stay down long enough for the mast to fill up. Even just preventing the boat from turtling in a capsize will help.

-Steve
 
definatly the best thing to do is practice, turtleing cost so much time and loses so many places, No i wouldn't recomend putting foam in the mast as it does asorb water, thats why the laser has plastic containers in the hull as appose to polystrene.

When i said i put foam in my topper mast i ment on anout 1 -2 ince down from the top just enough to seal the mast crain.

anyways we all know what practice makes, so lets get doin some and help raise the competition level of your local fleet, i'm building a hiking bench on saturday:cool:
 
I don't think he said put foam in the mast. The upper mast should be water tight. If not find out where it is leaking. Rivet? Replace it. End cap? Remove seal with marine sealent rerivet. The lower section has a hole in the end cap that allows water in. It must remain open to remain legal.
 
Well ..... practice capsizing and righting as quickly as you can, because you will find then that only the boom gets water in it if you can right real quickly. If you practice capsizing and righting effectively then you can learn not only how to only loose a couple of boats when it happens. But aslo you will get that "feeling" of nowing how close you are to capsizing your boat while sailing.

I now this from experience ......
 
Which mast section are we talking about? The top section should not take in any water. The bottom cannot be sealed and indeed with a quick right you can avoid water in that section. I do not remember water in my boom, though. The only way I mostly get water in the bottom section is by getting water on the deck, which runs into the maststep, into the mast. This is of course also the exit for most of the water that might get into the mast if you turtle the boat.

GWF
 
I guess what I'm saying is regarding the lower section. I don't flip much and have always done well in 15 -25 kt conditions. The water gets into the mast deck sleeve and into the mast through the bottom. If it is illegal to seal the lower section the so be it. I'm just thinking of saving the weight of the water in the mast. Thanks for the replies.
 
Georg W.F. said:
Which mast section are we talking about? The top section should not take in any water. The bottom cannot be sealed and indeed with a quick right you can avoid water in that section. I do not remember water in my boom, though. The only way I mostly get water in the bottom section is by getting water on the deck, which runs into the maststep, into the mast. This is of course also the exit for most of the water that might get into the mast if you turtle the boat.

GWF
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Oh no ..... you mean my fairly new boat has a leaky boom?!?!?!?!?

Sounds like warranty work to me :eek:)
 
181255 said:
Oh no ..... you mean my fairly new boat has a leaky boom?!?!?!?!?

Sounds like warranty work to me :eek:)
Click to expand...

My fairly new boat, sailed one year, has a leaky boom and mast. The boom not so much as the mast, and of course, the amount of water depends on how long I've been capsized or, yikes, turtled. I'm not sailing at such a competitive level that the extra weight from the water should make any difference, I think. The water doesn't do any harm, does it? That raises the question, I usually sail in freshwater. Does getting saltwater in the spars corrode them?

Merrily
 
Water doesn't do any harm, although salt water you should be rinsing your boat after use just to keep its good condition. Water is heavy and does make a difference in your lasers performance. Weight aloft is a bad thing ....
 
181255 said:
Water doesn't do any harm, although salt water you should be rinsing your boat after use just to keep its good condition. Water is heavy and does make a difference in your lasers performance. Weight aloft is a bad thing ....
Click to expand...

Yes, but saltwater inside the mast and boom--how do you rinse that?

M
 
You shouldn't get any water in the upper section - if you do, put a little dab of silcone sealer on the rivits

You can rinse out the boom thru the gooseneck hole. Lower mast is more obvious, but I'm sure you weren't asking about that :)

You can do a pretty decent job of keeping water out of the lower mast section while sailing if you silcone the rivits and use packing tape or the more exotic UHMW tape around the bottom of the upper section and the collar of the upper section that inserts into the lower section. (Yes, it's class legal) Mine is taped up enough that I have to twist the two together before sailing and need another person to help take them apart after sailing. I don't recall having any water in my lower section after a capsize (I'm pretty good about not turtling though)
 
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