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Can anyone enlighten me on the underfloor construction of the mast foot area of the (small number) of Speedsails epoxy boats moulded at their own workshop (not Todmorden) c 2010 since the one on my boat has collapsed (no damage to outer hull) and I am trying to engineer a solution?
The only thing I can see through the hole and access covers after removal of the foot bracket seems to be a thin layer of plywood into which the bracket was screwed, but I can not see how the forces on the area at 400lb rig tension are supposed to be handled (should they be transferred to the outer deck for example, or should the inner deck fully support the forces applied, was the centreboard casing part of the mast foot arrangement?)
At the moment I am proposing to fibreglass the area with perhaps 4 layers of chopped epoxy fibreglass, but the success, or otherwise, of this will depends on the inner deck being able to take the full downward force on the mast otherwise further (more extensive damage) could occur.
Many thanks in anticipation
Maurice Cooper
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this is quite a big job.
There is a fairly substantial ply frame under the mast. Ply quality was variable and it tended to delaminate and collapse.
it’ll need a hole cutting in the hull and the rotten/delaminated support ply replacing. Its not uncommon unfortunately. We’ve fixed a few of these. Other repairers are available, we are based in Birmingham.
O7977 six six 687 7eight5
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Hi Chris,
thanks for the reply.
I am hoping the ply deterioration is restricted to the mast foot area (due presumably to rain running down the mast), but I need to examine the area more fully. You suggested cutting an access hole in the side of the boat but I am aware of the need not to weaken the shroud area (although I suppose this should not be a problem if I am liberal with the epoxy and fibre when replacing the piece). It would be simpler if I could repair from ‘the top’ i.e. where the damage is already visible, by inserting and epoxying in a piece of hardwood between keel and mast foot, but this would depend on the condition of wood adjacent to the damage (which carries the load of several sheaves) and whether more extensive work is necessary.
I appreciate that I could take it to be repaired professionally, but the cost would probably not be worth it and I would be without the boat whilst the repair is being carried out
Having said that, I would appreciate any comments/guidance so that I can move forward with a sensible plan.
Kind regards
Maurice Cooper
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Hi Maurice
You need to go through the bottom and across the keel. This is major surgery i’m afraid as the piece you need to change requires the removal of quite a lot of other structure. There will already be a piece of ply between the keel and the step, albeit thin and probably rotten. There is a much larger, thicker piece that the step actually sits on beneath the glass skin. That has almost certainly collapsed too, and if it hasn’t it will. This is impossible to get to without an access hole. The trouble is if you try to “make do” by shoring up what you can see is that you will make fixing the step itself much more difficult.
You end up changing the wood that the pulleys are attached to as well as these are part of the mast step bearer.
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Hi, can I add to the advice you have so far, about 3 years ago after having extensive repairs carried out to my Speed GP 13954 I wrote an article which was published in Mainsail describing the problems and the repairs carried out by Steve Parker and his team at SP Boats.
The problem you have with the reinforcement under the mast step was just one of the problems- the repair is best carried out by cutting out a section of the outer hull to get access to the rotton wood.
Other problems I had were –
The plywood supports for the genoa under deck tracks collapsed – best replaced with the hull upside down on waist high or higher supports so that underside of deck can be accessed from below.
The plywood support for the rudder fittings had perished so that the lower pintle had no support – repaired by cutting out a section of the transom replacing the plywood and making good.
Two of the plywood reinforcement panels beneath the side benches had not been fully encapsulated and went rotten – again a cut out and replacement of wood and glass fibre was carried out, the sidebench mouldings were reused.
The pads bonded to the hull for the genoa turning blocks failed and were rebonded to the hull.
Others have reported that the bonded pads which are used to secure the main shroud plates can also fail – these were ok on 13954, but after all the other problems I part exchanged the boat for a year old SP GP 14197 – this boat has so far had not problems.
All the new plywood was epoxy coated before being installed in the repairs and it was impossible to see where the sections of the hull and transom had been replaced.
I hope that you manage to get your repairs completed but would advise you to check ALL locations where plywood reinforcements or backing is used by opening all the inspection hatches and looking under the decks.
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Hello Steve,
Sorry to be so late in replying—-I had put the repair on hold for the moment but intend shortly to pursue it with a professional repair. I will try to find the article you mention before going ahead. If the extra problems you indicate do exist (and investigating is not easy) then I suspect the cost of repairs will exceed the value of the boat and the only viable solution will be to scrap the hull.
Many thanks for your comments
Maurice
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