J/30 Class Association Forums J/30 Forum The Boat, Sails and Equipment Keel Step Bolts

Does anybody have their mast bolted to the step. Seems a good idea. So does ISAF

It wouldn't be too hard to drill and tap a couple of bolts in like we do for boom or spin pole end fitting ... but I don't know if in the past 30+ years any mast has blown off the step.

I think that is a requirement for boasts that sail in the Chicago Mackinac race

Vic,
Could you tell me more about the four screws holding the mast step to the mold?
Are those just wood screws? Are those machined screw into an aluminium plate inside the step mold? Any idea of the size?

I am planning to move my step this saturday and try to plan for the spare parts :-) if things get as tough as other threads mentioned...

Thanks!

those are machine screws ... in 505 we had to replace them, in 526 the originals were Ok. Impact driver to break free worked on both boats. must be some kind of a plate buried under the fiberglass that was drilled and tapped. Pretty sure it was bigger than a 10/24 and pretty sure they would have used a 24 there.

Precious - Thanks Vic.
Will try to guess few of various ones, and be lucky...

Did you had to drill and retap?

neither needed to drill and retap. but there is a decent amount of room in the adjusting slots of the step if you had to.

but once the step is off ... good to have a brush to clean the area.

We noticed improvement upwind on both boats subsequently. and it is only effective way to get to the OD max forestay length.

Thanks Vic...
I had the same setup than yours - less clean of course and indeed could see 3/4 inch forward and backward to slide the step.

Going to OD max was indeed the intent for the NA, but my screws ended up more stubborn than their heads. Crane was too low to give me more than 1 feet of working space... I will drill and replace them when the occasion happens....

When I did mine I did not have enough slot range to get to OD max forward. I did not want to drill and re-tap at that point.

When re-drilling, are we confident that the forward edge of the step is perfectly square to the boat? I was worries about getting the mast base slightly rotated or off centre if it was not.

I will likely postpone this until the winter. I was referring to drilling the screw themselves with extractor bits.
I still do not know if there is an embedded plate in the molded step, but if there is, tapping it does not sounds obvious to me. I would have to drill enough to get some clearance for the tap under the plate... but this become a bit fictional at this point until I know more about what's behind this mast step :-)
The geometry -I would just extend the slots line.. but I know, on my mast, I will not need it.