MkII mast pivot

[hatkit]

I have recently acquired a mk2 (4771) which I suspect may have a few non standard aspects. A few questions.
1. this particular Mk2 has a mast step, but no pivot bolt or indeed holes in the housing for one..Were some/all Mk2s built this way?
2. There is no black band on the mast and the natural height for the sliding gooseneck appears low compared with other Mk2 photos that I have seen. Is perhaps the sail therefore non-standard and how could I check this? I’m 6’7″ and the height of the boom is currently too low for comfort!

Grateful for any advice in setting to work what is otherwise a very sound boat.

[Bob Harland]

I would be surprised if boats were built without a pivot, class rules require one. But it is possible

To be thorough I think the best way is to measure a few things against the class rules;
http://www.wayfarer-international.org/WIC/11ClassRules.html

Section 26 contains mast details and a little further down the sail dimensions in Section G.

Some common problems that may not be helping are;
Sail head not being hauled to the top of the mast – if you cannot see to check this then turn the boat on it’s side
The leech is badly stretched causing the boom to sag.
The rig is not setup correctly – e.g. too much rake.

It is well worth taking some time to get the rig setup correctly, this article explains how;
http://wayfarer.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53:rigging&catid=31:set-up-a-equipment-tactics&Itemid=104

New masts have fixed goosenecks and assuming the main sail head is hauled to the top of the mast there is usually a little bit of tension on the luff. So you should not need to pull the boom below the black band. A shackle or untidy splice maybe stopping the sail going to the top. Or there maybe too much stretch in the halyard. A lot of people use a plastic bobble which does away with the need for splices and shackles.

Hope that helps
bob

[AUTHOR]

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