Mast Step and deck repair

I have reviewed many of the previous mast step repairs, but am still confused on how to create and a-fix a new step, what type of material to use for the step and to repair the deck. See photos.

It appears the step and deck have been repaired at least once before.

Also trying set the mast tube at the correct angle for the "factory" mast rack.
The boat is just for sailing around not competition, but would like to get it setup close.

What is the length of the lower mast tube?
Don't have near by.

Comments, suggestions.
Thanks

Tough question, eh!

Wow... so totally broken out then... (pictures didn't work for me at first - but I can see them now)

Fiberglass and deck foam... and a lot of skill I guess.

I was going to recommend the mast step repair kit from APSltd.com - but at nearly $400 that's hard to justify.

There are plenty of sound hulls out there to "start over" with besides the overwelming project you are facing! Having arrived at the final stage of a lengthly restoration of a 74 boat (and a lot of money also) I would explore the used boat market if I was in your shoes.....best of luck. Eric

ouch. the repair kit from APS is probably a good idea ifyou really want to tackle this. however I agree with the lots of good hulls out there thoughts, two free in cleveland right now, go to the forsale forum on this site.

I am a novice laser sailor. I can offer no help with your dilemma, sorry.

I was wondering if you could answer a question for me.

Does the mast step consist of only the glassed tube set in the hull or is there a removable sleeve in that tube that snugs up the mast just a bit so there is less play??

All of the other threads have fotos that appear to have no removable sleeve between tube and mast.

Thanks
beachdds
manteo

No there is no sleeve to take up space. The mast step hole is not round but oval .

The big concern should be does the mast hold water and not leak into the hull, the long term results are what my boat ends up looking like!

Hope that helps.

I have done a similar repair - it's a hard enough job if you've got the mast tube - if you haven't it'll be a real pain - you could make a new mast tube by laminating woven tape round a former (something like a tube slit nearly all the way down the sides and opened out at one end to make the oval shape for the top).

If you can find another hull it'll be easier - you should also check out how much you might get for the rest of your boat on ebay - it might be as easy to buy a new boat and sell the unwanted gear.

Good luck if you decide to go ahead with a repair.

Russell

If you decide to get a new hull you could make a hiking bench out of that hull.

Wanted to Sail

Bought a 4 by 4 piece of 3/8 marine plywood and some West systems products.

Made a mast step out of 5 squares, glued together with West, then hole sawed out a 3" hole.

Cut a 6 " wide piece with a 3" hole for the upper mast tube support, also glued in.

Measured and mounted mast tube in step and upper mount.
Cut and installed a 2" wide support from the dagger board to mast step.

Cut some 3/8 wood pieces to fill the rest of openings, glassed it.
So far good to go!!!!

built like the proverbial brick sh!t house. if you rip that out I will bow down

Thanks for the comment.
I hope it lasts, got a couple of young up and coming sailors.
It sure was nice to get on the water again!

scars_scrapes said:

built like the proverbial brick sh!t house

Click to expand...

Which proverb was that in again?



Excellent work Corolla!

Additional information

Wanted to post some additional information I had gathered from this site and others.

Also found a pdf with spec's re the positioning of cleats, etc.

Thanks! This looks like exactly what I am hoping to do so as to save the outrageous price of the ugly mast step repair kits. I've still got a couple of questions, though:

1) did you use a round tube or an oval? I was thinking of just using round aluminium tube from the metal supermarket and wrapping it in a single layer of glass to keep it watertight. If you used a round tube, do you have sailing issues going offwind as the mast does not rake forward?

2) I can't quite follow the diagram in the pdf file to get the rake right. Again, I was thinking of just marking the inside bottom of the hull to show where the original bottom "donut" of the step was and marking some cross reference points on the deck to show where the centre of the deck opening was.

Finally, did you use marine plywood or not?

Thanks again!

1) Fortunately I was able to recover the original fibre glass tube, so it was reinstalled.

2) The diagram illustrates the mast step rack position as measured from the tangent of the stern to the top of the lower section of the mast (~151").
The mast step rack position as measured from the tangent of the stern to the edge of the mast tube (116").

Who said we didn't need high school math.

Yes I used 3/8 marine plywood!

I had to collect the above information because this was the second repair done to this boat, as I found out after the failure, so I was not sure the original repair was correct (lots of weather helm). Not racing the boat but wanted it close to spec.!

Attached are more supporting docs (pdf)

Thank you. That's very helpful.

You could tell that it had been repaired once before due to the presence of old glass mat around the base of the tube. This boat must've been sailed hard at one time.

Inspiring repair job and post! I particularly enjoyed the pics and the Terry Gilman article on mast rake you included.

I am soon to embark on some structural repairs on my own hull (though not I hope as extensive as yours) and would like to know which West products you used and any product advice you can share. I am guessing the 105 epoxy resin and glass mat, any others.

Also did you do any finish work (gelcoat or paint) after glassing the repairs in?

Thanks.

Awesome job corolla. Wish I had seen your post earlier but went ahead with my own design. Again nice job and thanks for specs on Laser. I added a few of my pics of my adventure

Your "adventure" looks rock solid...nice work!

tjwa103
Nice repair looking forward to more photo's and details of the repair.

perlSailor
For the glue or filler i used West's 105 resin, 206 hardener and 404 thickener, later I used the 205 hardener because the out door temps were low and faster hardener still gave me lots of time to work, for the fibre glass just the 105 and 206. Bought the hand pumps for mixing and the re-usable mixing sticks. The stuff is pricey, but works real good and with the pumps easy to use. Then finished it with white polyester paint (Brightside).

Bungo Pete
If I only knew what I know now, I would have seen that the deck section around the mast step was not "factory" as well as the old glass repair.

Forgot a picture of the "support" from the dagger board trunk to the mast step and the supports pieces for the deck.