[Public-List] Mast Step post thanksgiving

[Bill McCoy via Public-List]

Well thank you to Team Alberg Savants who have duly provided timely information for my groggy post-thanksgiving eyes.  After crashing our neighbors home for thanksgiving steak and grog and taking a post-thanksgiving motorcycle ride across the Sumter National forest, I resume my analysis of your comments with sober regard.


Yet my question remains, should I worry that upon moving my mast forward 1/2 to 3/4 inch that the forward bolt will not be making direct contact with the mast base?  That is, given forward is better (note to savants) agreed, yet if the forward bolt is not in place at the deck level, the mast might have the propensity to lift at moments under aft-stay strain/pull and so then lift the mast just that bit possibly creating a havoc if it then returns to deck and smacks it?


Perhaps I'm just chicken to move it because of this possibility.  I realize the mast is held in place by shrouds, but in this scenario a mistake could further ruin what support I still manage to have in this 40 year old gal.


Can any of you comment on this particular possibility with respect to the photo?


with my esteemed appreciation...


Skeep


________________________________
From: Don Campbell <dk.campbell at xplornet.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, November 23, 2016 10:13 AM
To: Bill McCoy
Subject: Mast step

Hi Bill:
    If you start out with the original design, it was a fractional rig and much further ahead than it is now. (24” in fact). Kurt Hansen changed it for conditions in Toronto in light air and for production ease with a vee berth that one can use for sleeping. So we have what we have. It must be remembered that the only source of transmission of the sail power to the hull is via the friction of the mast base to the deck plate and frog, and the wire holding the mast up. Bad wire is just plain dangerous.
    As for rake, you might want to read some of  Stuart Walker’s books on sail trim and performance racing and improvements to get some measure of what rake does for you. It meant an Olympic  gold medal to the first Finn sailor who noticed rake increased speed, increased pointing ability,  and allowed for more sail trim than imagined as an example. There are a number of variations among those of us who race Al30’s but most of the top boats have rake of at least 12” aft at the top.
    Because the mast is 24” aft of design, weather helm is a constant problem for most of us, so anything to change sail balance or center of effort relative to  center of lateral resistance, makes a difference. Again many racers use a crazy suit of sails that puts things far aft, but this still seems faster in the end, because of downwind travel. Most use a 165 foresail and full size main. Until you sail the boat and find out what you like and can cope with, advice is difficult to give. The main effect of all of this is pointing ability.
    I always think safety should prevail. Safety includes being able to move the boat at hull speed under sail to get out of conditions that you don’t want to be in, whether that is too high winds because you are caught out, or getting in before the storm hits. Pointing ability matters! That said, I do not have any use for sails that one cannot trim or that take the boat over before we go forward. I have no sail that is older than 10 years and they are retired race sails. I do not use sails past 75 races for racing, Therefore, I always have a selection of relatively new sails on the boat to use for the current conditions. My mains are always the full dimensions and I have one that does not have a reef possibility. Foresails are always right up to the top of the mast. My second main has two reefing points, but I hardly ever use either. I would rather sail with just a foresail than just a main, so in heavy winds, if I get caught, I would take down the main. That said, I have been out on Lake Erie with a full main in winds that had 10 foot waves and did not think I was overpowered. If we take guests out on almost any day, we use a 135 foresail and full main. This is a very easy suit to control and so no one gets upset but the boat moves well. The rake on my mast is between 14” and 15” measured at the base and I have a manual backstay adjuster  to tighten things fore and aft. Tighter gives more rake!
    The biggest thing to have set is that the top of the mast not fall off sideways because of poor side stays. This effect is particularly bad it the top falls forward, as sail shape is non-existent if that happens and there is no speed possible.  Thus it is just as important to have really secure chainplates on the side as well as fore and aft. I have had to reinforce the forward lower chainplates and have redone all  8 on my boat. The 1/4” bolts that were original equipment in the chainplates ought to be replaced to at least 5/16” or 3/8” if you are feeling that you sail in big winds or the ocean. There ought to be a shoulder on the bolt so that the shear is not on threaded rod..
    There are a couple of other things that really need to be fixed and they include the through hulls, – replace all gate valves with proper seacocks and all through hulls, particularly the ones Hansen made- so motor intake and sink manual water pump inlet. The rivets in the boom end caps ought to be replaced with 1/4” machine screws drilled and tapped into the end caps. If you are sailing in salt water, the keel cover needs to be carefully inspected in the vee berth so that any twist of the hull in the past has not lifted the cover under the forward berths. If there is separation there, salt water can get into the iron keel and the ensuing rust will split the hull. This area needs to be repaired to prevent any water ingress to the keel. It is probably easiest to just take a grinder and cut out some of the cover, rough up the top and hull, clean everything up and re glass it with whatever you think you can do best. I hav been told vinyl ester is not great, polyester is still water permeable and epoxy is perhaps not the best to adhere to fully cured polyester. I rely on what the Gougeon Bros. say on heir help line.
    This is a long story on masts, and the mast base deck is probably wet, so you could take everything down, cut the top off the deck, clean out the wet stuff, and fill the hole with epoxy. At the same time, make sure all the bolts into the deck are into epoxy as well. Epoxy is water proof, but not Ultra Violet ray proof , so it needs to be painted or fully covered from sunlight. These sound simple rules and they are, but need to be adhered to religiously.
Don