mast moving on mast step

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IandI
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:10 pm

mast moving on mast step

Post by IandI »

i just picked up a freedom 39 express and noticed that the fwd mast head seemed to be doing a lot of moving in a sea. So i went into the v birth to take a look, the mast base was moving ont he mount while motoring. so i put a sil up to stabilize the mast. after sailing all night, i noticed that the mast was now rotated 25-3 degrees.
i got the mast back pointing the right way but my concern is with why is the mast moving on its step?
have any of you ever heard of this before?
thanks
Steve
last leg of three for this 800 ish mile trip tomorrow. only 135 to go

jdpandlp
Posts: 65
Joined: Mon Dec 08, 2008 8:59 am

Re: mast moving on mast step

Post by jdpandlp »

You will find many post on the site about mast moving on the base.

I have a 39 Express. On both mast there is a long bolt that passes all of the way through the mast and sits in a V block attached in the center of the top hat the mast sits over. On the out side I have an L bracket the has a lag bolt that passes through the bracket and a hole in the mast into the top hat and is also has lag bolt that passes through the bracket and goes into the base. Between the two items; the mast is held in alignment and rotation is stopped by the through bolt and v block, while the L bracket stops lifting and also helps stop spinning of the most on the top hat.

Hope this helps, Pete

IandI
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:10 pm

Re: mast moving on mast step

Post by IandI »

Thanks for the reply Pete, The boat has made it safely to Halifax and I have an idea that will be 1000x better than what is there now. a wimpy L bracket does exist on each mast but was not enough. I will have a SS collar build, 2 pieces, bolt them to the foot and to each other then have 2 bolts through the collar into the mast. I am courious to know how much shorter the foremast is now as it did a fair bit of rubbing while at sea. There is quite a bit of gray sludge at the mast foot area now. I guess the previous owner never had the opportunity to expose the boat to a real sea swell as it has been used on a lake and I think very lightly used for the past many years.
I will post pics once i get the new hardware installed.

Steve

IandI
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:10 pm

Re: mast moving on mast step

Post by IandI »

f39x fwd mast 4.jpg
f39x fwd mast 4.jpg (66.86 KiB) Viewed 6240 times
f39x fwd mast 2.jpg
f39x fwd mast 2.jpg (84.61 KiB) Viewed 6240 times
f39x fwd mast 3.jpg
f39x fwd mast 3.jpg (67.22 KiB) Viewed 6240 times
here are some pics of my solution

bad
Posts: 184
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 11:14 am

Re: mast moving on mast step

Post by bad »

Steve: That mast step looks great and is certain to hold things better in place. Lots of bearing surface. Will you be able to through-bolt it to the boat at the base? It looks like those holes are elongated to allow for movement when you clamp it on to the mast. And you have a nice rubber strip to insulate the carbon from the stainless. I use a series of plastic wedges used in framing to shim door frames to take up play between the collar and the mast. Easy to drive in and the conform to the round shape, plus they come loose by themselves when we lift the mast. You also want to make sure water can not be trapped inside the mast at the step.

Thanks for sharing,

Erik

IandI
Posts: 10
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2014 4:10 pm

Re: mast moving on mast step

Post by IandI »

well the fitting at the foot of the mast is working well. I will add 4 more lag bolts when the mast comes out as i still have a little lateral movement. now to deal with a vang collar that rides up. Arg...
S

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