Mast foot help

[suffolktim]

Hey guys – so I am hoping to sail on sunday, and I have saturday to sort out my mast foot!

I noticed that the mast pin was bent like a banana on my mk1 grp wayfarer, and after helpful comments at the conference (Dave), I checked, and there was no wood left at all under the mast – just a 2mm thin piece of hard plastic. I now have a solid stainless pin, but need to put the right size/shape chock under there, and attach it at the right point.

I have looked through posts on here, but struggling with any pictures of how it should look, or the size that it should be.

Could anyone help with this at all? It has a flat foot, and a flat base that it sits on. There is no track, and there is evidence of rusty screw stubs from a long while ago, and a single stainless screw which was obviously from the most recent attempt.

Sorry for lack of pics!

Cheers

Tim

 

[davdor7038]

Hi, Tim.

I’d suggest that your mast foot track is missing, especially as there are broken stubs of screws in the area.  It sounds like some previous owner either decided to save money by not replacing it or just couldn’t see any reason for it with a (now bent) mast pivot pin in place to restrict the mast movement.

Mine’s a MKII, but the purposes of a mast foot track are likely be similar.  In order to obtain mast bend, there needs to be a backstop for the bottom of the mast to bear against.

And I’m no expert but in the absence of other replies, here goes.

As well as providing some lateral resistance to the mast foot moving sideways, there is a transverse pin in the mast foot track against which, the mast foot bears ( in a rearward direction) when the rigging is tensioned. With no pin in place (or anything else to stop rearward movement of the mast foot), it will prove very difficult, or impossible, to get any mast bend when you want it, eg, when the wind picks up.  The mast will tend to pivot around the (“hounds?”) (the area where the shrouds and forestay meet) until the mast pivot hole edge comes into contact with the (bent) mast pivot pin which was installed.

You should probably firstly buy a mast foot stainless track  with holes in each side for a pin to slide through.  I think you should be able to get one on-line at most chandlers, as well as Hartleys.  Next, tape the track to the base of your mast and note the gap between the base of the track and the top that area with the broken stub screws.  If the upper edge of the hole in the mast for the pivot pin is lying on top of the pivot pin, the mast is too low.  Ideally, the pivot pin should be in the middle of the mast pivot pin hole and not bearing against any part of the mast.  You may need to install a spacer under the mast foot track to get the correct height.

The correct height for the mast is when the centre height of the mast pivot hole and the pivot pin itself are in line and the pivot pin is not touching the mast anywhere around the mast pivot hole.  This will allow the mast to bend back and forth slightly

Correct fore and aft position will only be known after tensioning your jib. Ideally, though, both before and after tensioning the jib, the mast pivot pin should not be in contact with the mast pivot hole, but will allow the mast to bend forward, if required.  i.e, the pivot pin is toward the front of the mast pivot hole with space behind it to allow the mast to move forward when required, (bend).

If you haven’t already bought the Wayfarer Book, I’d highly  recommend it as a great source of information on tuning and boat setup, as well as the on-line WIT. (Wayfarer Institute of Technology) which sounds a little pompous, but really is a great source of information on all things Wayfarer.

Hopefully, someone with more specific info on a MKI will come along with better info than above.

Regards,  davdor

[Swiebertje]

This may be of some help.

[suffolktim]

Hey guys –

thanks for the help…had a go at it saturday morning, and after a bit of jiggling around I got it right. I used a block of teak, and got it to the right depth, so that the pin is free moving when pressure is applied through the shrouds and forestay. Had a lovely sail out with friends on Sunday, playing pirates chasing each others boats up the orwell towards the brige and back.

Cheers!

Tim

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