Mast Sleeving

[sugar and spice]

Can I get some info / advice (price, time, PITA) from anyone who has had a sleeved. I have a dent in the lower end of the deck stepped mast on my Catalina 27, its about 4-6 inches above the base of the mast. I dont know if it really needs it, they drill holes in that area for wires and lines to exit after all.

Thanks

[Cheechako]

If it's that close to the end of a deck stepped mast I dont believe it would be a problem. If your mast is going to buckle it will occur higher up. I had a mast sleeved and reinforced once about 6 ft up. It had in-mast furling and was starting to crack around the cutout area of the mast. It was a big job and expensive.

[sugar and spice]

Cool, I have had a couple of people say the same thing, but none of them actually had to have one done. I will just keep an eye on it and watch for cracks etc. for now. Its sitting at the dock until I get back from Iraq anyway.

Thanks

[Charlie]

S&S:

When they are that low it is an easy job to sleave themb/c they are not connecting two seperate pieces of mast per say. I raced on a boat once where they had to cut off the bottowm two inches of the mast. They then just built up a plate to raise the deck step the same amount they cut off. I don't know if that would be possible for six inchesbut I imagine a tabernacle fitting would work to strengthen the area. Tabernacle is bascially a stanless steel 'U" shaped hinge that allows someone to lower their mast. Good luck and thanks for your service in Iraq.

[Herbseesmoore]

ON a boat we are having surveyed today, we saw our first sleeved mast. Not being aware of the this practice we were amazed at the 70 screws in 20 inch section of the mast. Could others here on the forum expound on this procedure? These screws were about 7 ft off the deck. Does this come original or is it a repair procedure?

[GMac]

It isn't that unusual Herb. Back in the day the length of boats hence masts grew a lot faster than the ability to extrude long mast sections.

It still happens from time to time and there must be a lot out there with screwed joins. It maybe original or maybe a repair.

[sugar and spice]

Originally Posted by Charlie

S&S:

When they are that low it is an easy job to sleave themb/c they are not connecting two seperate pieces of mast per say. I raced on a boat once where they had to cut off the bottowm two inches of the mast. They then just built up a plate to raise the deck step the same amount they cut off. I don't know if that would be possible for six inchesbut I imagine a tabernacle fitting would work to strengthen the area. Tabernacle is bascially a stanless steel 'U" shaped hinge that allows someone to lower their mast. Good luck and thanks for your service in Iraq.

My mast actually has a tabernacle system and I have a HUGE deck plate, it is actually what caused the dent, I was lowering it to pass a bridge and the goose neck failed, the mast rolled forward to port and the deck plate dented the mast. The deck plate didnt give an inch though. So the dent is just above and in fornt of the tabernacle fitting. The one part I am concerned with is the pivot bolt itself. I am going to replace it for sure.

[Talbot]

I had a bulge in the mast wall on both sides by the pivot point due to the base of the mast falling off the step. I had a professional repair which replaced the normal pivot tube with stainless plates covering well past the bulge area . Stiffened up the whole area and solved the problem!

[sugar and spice]

Originally Posted by Talbot

I had a bulge in the mast wall on both sides by the pivot point due to the base of the mast falling off the step. I had a professional repair which replaced the normal pivot tube with stainless plates covering well past the bulge area . Stiffened up the whole area and solved the problem!

That sounds like a good plan too.

[Cheechako]

"These screws were about 7 ft off the deck. Does this come original or is it a repair procedure"
Sounds little iffy that far down the mast to be original. How long is the mast? if the mast is shorter than the extrusion available it is likely a repair. The one I had professionally done was sleeved, embedded in structural epoxy, and had a honey comb of high strength rivets. It was never separated though, just sleeved for reinforcement. Done properly I see no detriment. One consideration though is that the mast will be stiffer there, when you bend the mast it may be less than a smooth curve.

[Herbseesmoore]

Interesting subject so here is what I saw. About a 45' mast.

[sugar and spice]

What ever its for its damn nice looking work, a lot of time went into counter sinking all those screws. wow.

I think I might wait until I get ready to re-rig the whole mast.