Mast Fitting issues on a Passport 10,5

Hi Guys

I have a Passport 10,5 and a mate gave me a Mirage Sail .. the mast pole fits into the front mast fitting but seems to move around a bit at it's base when sailing and I noticed the deck moulding distorts a bit too. Under the hull just in front of the Mirage drive slot there seems to be a little white circle of plastic ... I saw someone talking about a screw fitting like a "top hat" and was wondering if this is there to support the bottom of the mast ..the only issue is my mast probably comes from an outback and has a plastic plug in the 1" end ..maybe this should be hollow (take out the plastic plug in the tubing) so it can fit over the "top hat" inside the hull. (I have no front hatch so I cannot see inside the mast fitting on the top. Any advice would be really useful !!

Many Thanks Chris

If the tube is not seated at the bottom, you can unscrew and re-set. A Long / large flathead driver fits in a slot inside the tube.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Awesome Thanks Matt !! Is the "top hat" screw designed so it goes into the bottom of the mast tube to stop it moving around? I bought my mast used and it has a plastic stopper in it ..should the end of the mast tube be open so it can fit over the top hat screw. Access from the top fitting with a long flathead screw driver I assume and not from under the hull via a white plastic circle ???

Thanks for that!! I think however I might have found the issue. First of all there is no "top hat" screw on the passport .. All you have is a plastic tube that extends from the soft plastic disk under the hull right up to the deck and the flange screws into inserts either side. Now, being made in the USA the inside diameter of the tube is 1" (25.4mm in our measurements ... the Hobie mast I got is a much smaller diameter around 13/16" so a a good 3/16th smaller than the tube so it rattles around and doesn't fit snug into the tube. I think I can make my own mast for my Mirage Sail using standard 25mm pipe which fits a LOT better and it will be a lot more stable.

Can you tell me however what the soft plastic disk in the bottom of the hull is used for?? When I say "soft" it's solid but I can depress the center with my finger from outside the hull ... it does seem to line up correctly with the mast tube so maybe it's just a shock absorber of sorts

Any help would be appreciated!!!

Many Thanks Chris

The mast is not supposed to be a net fit in the tube. I assume you are looking at a molded-in insert on the bottom of the hull that related to the bottom of the mast tube.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thank You .. I was just worried that the deck was flexing quite a lot with the loose fitting mast. Sorry one other question ..my Hobie sail has a slot for a batten that runs from the top edge down to the opposite edge of the sail ..however half way down the slot the sail has been factory stitched right across the batten slot ..Is this normal cos any batten I make will only go in as far as the stitching and I don't want to damage the stitching by forcing a batten past it or cutting the thread so have been using the sail without a batten and it seems fine ..the batten slot is pretty narrow too and I can only insert a PVC batten that is less than 1/2" wide.

I am concerned about the deck flexing though. Can you post a video? That is odd.

The provided batten should fit all the way into the pocket. It is a 3/16" (55" long) round stock batten.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Thanks Matt

I'll check out the flexing when I go out again! I solved the batten issue as it was a used Mirage sail and the batten was missing so I made up a rectangular PVC batten that measured a little more than 3/8" (actually 10mm wide x 3mm thick) which is why it doesn't clear the stitching as it's twice as wide as the round batten which is 3/16" diameter and a 5mm unit goes in easily!!