Mystery hole in mast

I recently bought a 1982 Hobie and I am in the process of replacing the standing rigging, pins/rings, running rigging, mast step base and a few other small things. In the process of removing the standing rigging I noticed a 1/2" hole in the mast about 1' from where the stays attach ( directly opposite side of mainsail slot. It's a clean hole, not a puncture, I'm just not sure if it's a factory design or someone added it for some reason. Any ideas?
If it is not serving a current function, what would be the best way to patch the hole? Duct tape? Fillers? Weld?

While I'm posting, anybody want to offer opinions on good wind indicator placement on Hobie 16's?

Cheers

Has to do with the CompTip installation. Closed cell flotation foam is injected to make a seal between the aluminum and CompTip. That is by the factory or dealer (when retrofitted).

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

I assume the foam extends below the hole as well then, so there should be no reason to patch it up. Thanks for the info.

Is it hollow inside the hole, or is there foam inside the mast? As mmiller said, the purpose of the hole is for filling the cavity inside the mast between the upper plug and the bottom of the comptip with expanding foam after the comptip is installed. Normally after the expanding foam has expanded, a plastic cap is placed over the hole to give the mast a finished appearance. So either the cap has fallen out or the expanding foam was never injected into the mast. You should foam the mast if needed and then install a new cap.

sm

On the bridle. Get a bridle fly like in the Hobie Catalog.

I do feel foam in there, when pressing on it, it does release some water. So im thinking that i might need to do some sealing somewhere around the comtip retrofit. I can contact a dealer about a replacement cap. Thanks.

The best wind indicator I have used, and been using for 30 years, is knitting yarn Tie a piece about foot long to the middle of each side of the bridle. Go by the upwind side when sailing. Other people have used cassette tape, which i did try, but it will tear off while trailing on the highway. The yarn lasts a long time. The nice thing about it is that it doesn't require rigging every time you launch.

Howard

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Howard