Hello All - Mischief has the SLM-standard Forespar mast. One on my early project on Mischief is to eliminate leaks. The mast seems to be a major source at the moment. Calypso’s new Selden mast has an internal foam plug immediately above deck level with limber holes to permit water inside the mast to drain rather than propagating below decks. I expect this foam plug will start leaking at some point in the future, but right now it is GREAT. Almost no water at all below from the mast. Conduits remain an outstanding source. More work needed there - I’ll be plugging the top ends of the conduits.
Anyway, back to Mischief’s Forespar mast. I’m interested in hearing what folks have done to mitigate water ingress into the bilge on their Forespar masts. Do tell!
I have had good experience with Little Wing using Spartite, mast tape, and modeling clay in the sail track groove. The minimal water that comes in is from the sheaves at the top.
We also have Spartite, with a boot over top, and a little silicone so we get no water running down the outside of the mast.
We get very very little water coming in from inside the mast. When we pulled the rig a couple of years ago and re-wired the mast we added rubber grommets in the openings (for wire support, but they helped ensure there wasn’t any open holes for water ingress).
Cheers,
Mike
Jeremy,
Random question- when you were researching mast replacement for Calypso, did you talk to Cape George? I was just curious what mast they were using as we think through our new rig options for the future.
Cheers,
Mike
No we did not. We started with Forespar, and when we learned they were no longer making masts we approached both Sparcraft and Selden. It would be interesting to see who Todd uses.