F30 mast track pulling away from mast, and slide pulled out of sail

Boat Systems
1

Hello,
We have a frustrating situation with a 1987 F-30 where a section of the mast sail slide track is pulling away from the mast, and one of the sail track slides has completed ripped out of the sail. With both of these items happening concurrently it seems that there is a force working to pull the sail and the mast away from each other.

  • Regarding the mast track, this F30 has a short separate piece of track closest to the boom, that is maybe 10" long (unsure if this is typical?). That’s the piece that is pulling from the mast, and it is worse at the upper end of this 10" piece of track. Some of the rivets have either broken or pulled out of the mast. I re-riveted it tight but the track is pulling away from the mast again.
  • Regarding the white plastic sail slide (that slides within the mast track) ripping out of the sail, I think it is about the 6th sail slide from the bottom of the sail, so it is somewhat higher than the section of sail track that is pulling out.

My first guess is that maybe the outhaul is too tight and therefore pulling the sail away from the mast?? I loosened the outhaul last night.
A second guess was that sailors may be jibing without controlling the swing of the boom from side to side in an uncontrolled manner, but the sailors tell me that this is not happening.
Therefore I’m unsure what the cause could be. Any thoughts are appreciated!
Thanks, Steve

2

How long are the rivets you used? Were they snug in the holes before you expanded them?

This sounds like a rivet failure, so it might be that you used the wrong size.

3

Given that the failure points are so far removed from each other, it sounds like old parts are just failing. You might need to drill new holes. That said, I would take a look at everything still. Is the tack securely pinned at the gooseneck? That alone should take most of the load off the mast. Is the clew strap / slug sliding smoothly? If the sail has a foot bolt rope is it jammed?

4

I wouldn’t recommend you drill any new holes…

5

Hello RadioZepher and thanks for your reply to my topic!



Based on your question about rivet size I found a Michael Cunningham post that indicated that the F30 mast thickness is 1/2" at the bottom.

That being the case, the rivets I installed are too short. I’ll go shop to see what I can find for longer ones.



Thank you!


[quote=RadioZephyr post_id=56243 time=1721269102 user_id=5979]
How long are the rivets you used? Were they snug in the holes before you expanded them?



This sounds like a rivet failure, so it might be that you used the wrong size.
[/quote]

6

Hello iansan5653,

Thanks for your reply about my problem.



Yes, the tack is securely pinned and the clew strap is working properly. I need to check whether something is jammed.



I did determine that the outhaul was very tight, so perhaps the clew / foot of the sail was being pulled too strongly away from the mast, creating enough force to pull the bottom of the track away from the mast.

Also, considering the first section of track is only about 8-10 inches from the bottom of the track, and it was pulling out from the mast while the section above it was not pulling out, I think it’s possible that the car/slide got caught between the two and ripped out when someone may have been hoisting the sail.



Anyway, next step is to find longer rivets and to rivet the sail track tightly back onto the mast.

Thanks again!




[quote=iansan5653 post_id=56245 time=1721331960 user_id=6308]
Given that the failure points are so far removed from each other, it sounds like old parts are just failing. You might need to drill new holes. That said, I would take a look at everything still. Is the tack securely pinned at the gooseneck? That alone should take most of the load off the mast. Is the clew strap / slug sliding smoothly? If the sail has a foot bolt rope is it jammed?
[/quote]

7

[quote=Earthman post_id=56250 time=1721487850 user_id=6446]


Based on your question about rivet size I found a Michael Cunningham post that indicated that the F30 mast thickness is 1/2" at the bottom.

[/quote]

I would confirm that yourself, as your mast might be different. It’s easy, you just need a small piece of stiff wire. Bend the tip of the wire into a tiny L shape that’s smaller than the diameter of the hole. You can then put it into the hole and hook the end into the inside of the mast. Mark the wire, take it out, and measure from the mark to the bend—that’s your thickness.

8

Yes, when i had my mast out i measured the wall thickness at the base of the mast. Of course FYI made changes to the boat as production evolved. I would imagine mast wall thickness would be unlikely to change though.

Note: you should be able to see this for yourself where the wiring penetration hole is located at the mast step. Failing that, it would be visible if one were to withdraw the big bolt at the step which prevents mast rotation.

I do not know if that thickness is carried all the way to the masthead but i would think it would be unchanged near gooseneck level.

I seem to recall one can actually feel the edge of the mast wall at the jib/spinnaker sheave box. So an enterprising person could check at that point too.

9

Definitely thicker around the gooseneck.

10

Yea, I’ve tapped some holes in the gooseneck to mount a handhold port and starboard. The gooseneck bulge is a little over an inch thick I reckon.