FOREMAST MOVEMENT AT THE STEP F39 PHS

[DaysailorJ]

As I have gotten some great info form the site, I want to contribute my recent experince to this growing knowldge base---

I have had an ongoing battle with mast movement on my '95 F40/40. It first began to move fore and aft about 3/4" following a day of pounding into stormy weather off Cape May two years ago. We saw that the cast mast-step fixture seemed to be knocking around within the fiberglass box that it was bolted on, so we jury-rigged a fix with 2"x6" wood blocks pounded into the box, on four sides of the mast. Back in port, we tightened down the nuts that hold down the adjustable plate within the box, and epoxied the nuts in place. This seemed to keep the movement down to about credit card thickness, but it did not turn out to be a lasting solution.

During the trip back North, "Elizabeth" hit gale strength weather in north Florida, and the heavy seas again loosened the mast, but this time almost catastrophically. There was now enough movement to impact the boat's safety, and the bare mast was secured with blocks (and later a fabricated hardwood set of circular wedges) and temporary stays and shrouds, made up of halyards and other lines. This rig allowed careful motoring back up to Rhode Island, where the boat and mast were pulled.

We have now cut away the floor from the forward head, and one of the bulkheads. The mast step casting is "FUBAR" with serious elongation and cracking at the bolt holes. On closer examination, the mast step box has actually torn loose from the hull, indicating that it was not properly bonded to the hull and the adjacent bulkhead during production. I suggest that anyone experiencing mast movement watch for signs of looseness in this area--I hope it was just a bad day at the Freedom factory. Paul Dennis had never seen this on any Freedom before, as the factory build process called for this box to be integral to the hull. We are now in the breathtakingly expensive process of completely reconstructing this mast base, and will make very sure that the mast will never move again. A new box will be laminated to the hull and bulkhead, and a new (or if available, a Freedom OEM) plate will be secured onto it (with no adjustment feature this time). I'll try to get some pictures in here when available.

As an added note, I am also looking at shortening the mast (and mainsail head to match it) to around 61" above the water line, so I can access the ICW in the future.

John