Mast heel and step

[SAIL1]

looking at the pics in the last post by Jim....I do not see enough gap between the base of the mast and seat to get any significant rotation of the mast when lowering it...maybe 30deg from vertical before the aft edge of mast bottoms out on the seat and if that occurs, one can develop a significant force in the bolt resulting in the tear-out at the bolt hole as shown in his pics.....if this,indeed, is correct, then one should remove the bolt when lowering the mast to prevent this binding from happening....if the bolt was initially intended to provide a hinge when lowering the mast, it kinda defeats that purpose...

[LSD87]

Took a few more today.

[wikakaru]

looking at the pics in the last post by Jim....I do not see enough gap between the base of the mast and seat to get any significant rotation of the mast when lowering it...maybe 30deg from vertical before the aft edge of mast bottoms out on the seat and if that occurs, one can develop a significant force in the bolt resulting in the tear-out at the bolt hole as shown in his pics.....if this,indeed, is correct, then one should remove the bolt when lowering the mast to prevent this binding from happening....if the bolt was initially intended to provide a hinge when lowering the mast, it kinda defeats that purpose...

The through-bolt is definitely NOT a hinge. Its function is to connect the mast to the mast base that DOES have hinge pins. The hinge pins are not shown in the photos I posted, but the most recent ones Steve posted just above shows them well. Removing the through bolt would allow the mast and hinged base to disconnect from one another when lowering the mast and cause all kinds of damage and danger.

--Jim

[wikakaru]

Took a few more today.

Honestly, Steve, that doesn't look too bad. The middle photo shows that the area just forward of the bolts has splayed out a bit. Once you unstep the mast and remove the base you may be able just to straighten it out with a set of vice grips padded with a rag or something soft as long as the aluminum isn't badly cracked. If the holes for the through-bolt are intact you should be good to go with just a bit of straightening. Otherwise, add another set of tapped machine screws like I did. I will reserve final judgement until you post photos of the disassembled pieces, but I wouldn't lose much sleep over it.

Smooth sailing,

Jim

[s2sailorlis]

Jim, what do you think caused the deformation of the hole in the mast? My 22 has exact same setup, but the hole isn’t deformed. Did a PO pivot the mast down vs using a crane? I could imagine using gin pole method and lowering mast in this way would place a lot of stress on that hole. From what I know my 22 has only been lowered via a crane for at least the last 20-25 years.

To OP: if there are no cracks or deformation, just eliminate the mask rake…you don’t need it. UPDATE: Looks like forward portion of mast has a slight outward deformation. I suspect that hole thru the mast and step is deformed like Jim’s. You can take that bolt out now as it’s not going to impact anything.

[wikakaru]

Jim, what do you think caused the deformation of the hole in the mast? My 22 has exact same setup, but the hole isn’t deformed. Did a PO pivot the mast down vs using a crane? I could imagine using gin pole method and lowering mast in this way would place a lot of stress on that hole. From what I know my 22 has only been lowered via a crane for at least the last 20-25 years.

My guess is that someone at some time in the past tried to either lower my boat's mast by hand or lift it off with a crane, but forgot to release any of the hinge pins, which put so much stress on the area that it tore out. Ripping upwards with a crane seems more likely, as the operator wouldn't realize they were damaging things because they were just pushing a lever on the crane. If someone were lowering the mast by hand I would think they would have stopped to figure out why nothing was moving. I can't think of how else someone could do that kind of damage.

--Jim