Hello Pete and welcome to the GP14 Class.

Yes you are right you are missing ‘cheeks’ that take up this gap you refer. Some older boat had a cast aluminum piece attached to the mast at deck level. In the absence of this cast piece, I would glue or screw wood or similar to the inside faces of the mast gate so they equally take up all the sideways clearance, then the mast can slide in out but has no side movement.

If you want further specific advice consider taking a few pictures or can email me on duncan.greenhalgh@outlook.com

All the best

Duncan

Hi Pete

There will be people better informed than me, but it sounds as though your mast gate is the width to fit a wooden mast. There were alloy packing pieces available to screw to the mast to convert the elliptical shape to a square section but you could just put flat, wooden packing pieces in which would still allow some fore & aft movement.

Regards

Norman

Hello Pete

It all depends on how competitive you want to be.  The modern boats operate on very high rig tensions and are built accordingly,  excessive tension on an old boat can result in the mast foot penetrating the hull.  If you have no tensioning device it suggests you may have a rope jib halyard secured to a cleat.  If so, providing it is non-stretch and someone pulls the forestay out hard whilst you tension and cleat the halyard, the boat will sail reasonably well.  New sails will normally be built to suit high tensions and spreaders.  If you don’t have new sails, just try it and see.

Good sailing

Norman

Pete

Can I suggest that you look at the members library section of the web site where you will find a very good first guide for beginners on how to rig and set up a GP14, you will find some of the ideas are for more modern boats but many are relevant to your boat.  Is your boat a wooden hull or a fibre glass hull? If it is an old boat with out any jib halyard tensioning leaver or multi purchase blocks you may find a rack on the port side of the plate case when you have pulled the jib halyard as tight as you can and then cleated at the back of the plate (case with a helper pulling the forestay forward to bend the mast), pull the halyard up and lock it into the highest position on the rack that is possible.  This is OK for fun sailing, but invest in a hifield leaver or a safer multi purchase bock and tackle – both will also require you to change your jib halyard from all rope to a wire with rope tail.  Another tip is that your gooseneck fitting may be of the sliding type, these inevitably slide down the mast when even a light load is applied to the kicker, to stop this drill through the mast just below the correct goose neck position, top of boom inline with the lower black band, and insert a stainless bolt or split pin, or even better fit a newer gooseneck which will be fitted to the mast with rivets.

Hope that all helps without confusing

Steve