J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment mast foot

Marie,

There are typically wooden shims or a urethane compound such as "Spartite" poured to keep the mast in position. It is important to have the mast in the proper position. The position is best set with the shrouds and stays loose. The mast step should be located 1" back from the molded lip on the step in the vberth. The mast should be centered in column over the keel. A good trick is to use a sight line hanging from a step ladder about 60 feet behind the boat while on the hard so you can use it as a reference to see from the bottom of the keel to the top of the mast. I used lines tied around the mast and turning blocks to the winches to properly center the mast. The front of the mast should be positioned 11.5 feet from the stem of the bow, also using lines and a turning block to winches so the mast can be pulled forward. Note that the mast may not be centered in the hole when it is properly aligned to the keel.

Once the mast is centered and positioned fore/aft correctly, use wooden wedges to fix the mast position at the deck. An alternative is to create a mast collar using a urethane such as "Spartite". See my Rhapsody post that also contains a link to my blog where the Spartite process is described.

After the mast is positioned properly, you can put on a mast boot. There are some sold that are one piece and slide on the mast before the mast is inserted in the hole. Rigrite sells a mast boot on this page. Others have taped on rubber seals and used canvass or Sunbrella covers.

On Rhapsody I use Spartite and the Rigrite mast boot that was split in the aft seem and taped to allow easy removal. The Spartite helps keep the mast centered, and helps keep rain from dripping down the mast.