[quote=JohnES][quote=mgoltsman]So last time I sailed my P16, the wind was plenty enough to load all rigging - for a change. But I noticed that my mast would not easily rotate with the sail. When I changed tack, the mast would stay turned into the wind so the sail would make a sharper angle with it than necessary. Eventually, something - I am not sure what - would happen and the mast would pop over to the right direction.
Is that normal behavior? Or should I be fixing something? I don't think my standing rigging is very tight, so maybe the mast deflects to leeward too much? Or could it be that the base of the mast is too rough to turn easily? I snapped a photo of the inside of the mast base ([img]http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=109617[/img]) - it's far from polished but doesn't seem criminally rough either.
I thought of smoothing out the mast base with a dremel to eliminate that possibility - but then I thought I might make the hole too much bigger than the mast ball and ruin the mast base. Not a good idea especially if the rough surface of the mast base is not the problem.
So I figure I should ask the opinion of the pros here. Should I smooth out the base of the mast? Are there any specific things to look out for when doing that? Is my mast rotation behavior normal or am I doing something wrong (e.g. not tightening the standing rigging enough)?[/quote]
If your mast is not rotating freely when you tac, you may have your shrouds too tight for the winds you're sailing in... On the 16, there is a mast rotation tab limiter on mast base to keep your rotation to under what I believe 45 degrees... You should be able to freely move the mast to the stops with your hands.
I use to make this same mistake with the shrouds, that is tighter is better..... When they held the Prindle Nationals in Long Beach, CA in 1999, this gent (no.... not Boat-less Bruce) that was sailing one of the Prindle 19s went through my 16 and helped me set it up.... the right way....!!!! It was night and day improvement when we loosened up the shrouds a notch or two... the mast went over real smooth.
With that, you mast base looks pretty clean..... I have seen worse. I use carry a Scotch-Brite pad along with some water or Windex with me to clean the mast base before each sail on my Prindle's.... You may want to get in there with some wet/dry 400- 600 grit paper and polish it up a bit more than it is, but overall your OK there... How is you mast bearing (half ball) is it rough and old - white chalky color? If so may be time for a new one...
Good luck..<!-- editby --><em>Edited by JohnES on Sep 09, 2014 - 02:14 PM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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