Sealing mast, worth it?

Hi all,

Boss walked into my cube today, handed me a $2400 check for holiday bonus. Its all going to go into my boat.

I'll be buying a few things (yay! I'll finally have beach wheels!) and repairing others. I currently have a baby bob on the top and all the other racers around here say its slowing me down ALOT on the racecourse. They have all told me to seal the mast.

I read some of the previous posts about mast sealing, and have seen mixed results. Some people say your boat can still turtle, others say it won't. Plus, I'm new to boat ownership, so I don't know everything there is to know about H16s yet. A few questions:

1) Will it keep the boat from turtleing like the float does? If not, how much time would this give me until the mast goes underwater?
2) What materials will I need in order to seal the mast?
3) Any tips on how to do it, problem areas I should watch out for? Places I shouldn't spray the (I'm assuming silicone) sealant? (Basically, how to do a great job instead of a good or mediocre one).

Merry Christmas and happy boat maintenance season!
-Evan

Oh, and how long does this last? Will I have to reseal the mast in a few years?

-Evan

Wish I had a boss like that ! Well done.

See if you can find the post by Matt Bounds about his adventures at the ? 1997 ? Hobie 17 Nationals in San Francisco, and his story of a leaky mast on a chartered H17.
After that, you'll understand why your mast should be perfectly sealed if you decide to take off the Hobie Bob.
Basically, you use silicone.

We sail in relatively shallow waters, so I keep my Bob on at all times. If we ever do turtle, I do NOT want to lose my mast or comp tip.

Happy Holidays

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

How do you know it's not already sealed ??? I found out mine didn't leak by accident !!! That would be easy to check !!! Just throw it in the water !!!

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

It was the 2006 Hobie 17 North Americans, and I made a lot of friends that day. Lots of friends in blue uniforms driving orange RIBs with .50 cal mounts on the foredeck (US Coast Guard). Also some guys in black uniforms driving a badass Protector RIB (San Francisco Police). It was all good and I made it back to the St. Francis YC with a bit (OK, a lot) of help from their harbormaster.

There's an article in the latest Hobie Class HOTLINE magazine about leaks in general and mast leaks in particular. Join the class and I'll mail you one (http://www.hcanamembers.com). The current issue is only available to Hobie Class members, but back issues can be found at http://www.w1dm.com/projects/HOTLINE/Hotline.html.

The short answer to your question is, no - a sealed mast will not work as well as the Bob to keep you from going turtle - which is pretty much impossible with a Bob. However, the Bob adds weight where you least want it (top of the mast), making the boat harder to right.

Going turtle is not the end of the world - unless your mast leaks. Then you'll be talking to the guys in uniform.

In a Wave, you can turn turtle with the mast bob - 25 knot winds on the vertical tramp generate a lot of "turtle force" if your mast is on the downwind side of the boat - hence the need for quick recoveries!

From my buddy, who sails a Classic Tornado, with spin, and he sails with a lot of spirit....
and I remember his capsize and turtle when under spin (see below) and he went 'hot' and his spinsheet cleat locked up....

"We partially sealed my mast a few years ago. My rig had holes drilled to run an internal jib halyard. We took the turning blocks out and applied spinnaker tape to the holes to seal them up. There's a bit of a gap at the base of the mast, where it meets the mast step, that we mostly sealed, leaving a small hole for water to exit. The first two times we capsized, the boat lay on it's side for long enough to leisurely get the righting line out and rigged before it started turtling.

Fast forward to this season, the spinnaker tape had come off, and the Tornado went turtle almost instantly when we capsized it.

I agree with the comments that the bob is slow. It's a lot of aerodynamic drag, and weight up high where you don't want it. I would advocate for it's removal, making sure that your insurance is fully paid and up to date."
Matt

for now, I'll keep my Bob...

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Dave:

I asked the previous owner if it was sealed or not. Other than the guys who raced it hard during the worlds races, he's the only guy to really have sailed it. He said it wasn't sealed

I think I'll seal the mast and take the bob off. I will keep the bob though and find a way to easy attach/detach it. When I head to the coast and sail in shallow water recreationally, it would be a good thing to have. Thanks for the tips all

The tornado story is nice. How many years later was the capsize that made him turtle? This would give me a prediction of how often I should try to reseal it.

-Evan

So he capsized and turtled in 2015....it was 2013 that he taped the holes, so my guess is two years.

If you can easily move your mast, do you have a swimming pool nearby that you can dunk the mast in to check for bubbles?

_________________
2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Check out the ...........Secumar Auto Inflation Anti-Inversion Mast Float..............

_________________
Bill 404 21SE

The guy I bought my boat from was NOT the kinda guy that would spend money on having his mast sealed. I've capsize a dozen times but the mast never leaked. Personally, I wouldn't spend a dime before making sure the mast actually needs sealing.

_________________

Happy Sailing,

David

It's easy to do. Walk into the lake with your mast and hold it under water. Look for air bubbles and note where they are coming from. The mast is a big extrusion, so it can only leak at the two ends or where holes are drilled. Inside each end is a plug that's silicone caulcked into place. Put a little glop of silicone over each rivet hole. Don't try to seal around the mast base, it flexes there. Just rely on the plug inside at the base.

Sent from my SM-G860P using Tapatalk

_________________
Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"

After acquiring my '83 about 8 years ago I was sailing it and went over only to have great difficulty righting it by myself. When finally upright water was draining out of the base of the mast. It had not turtled but the mast head must have sunk lower than it would have normally with a sealed mast. It took me about 30 minutes to get it on it's feet again.
Got home and took the base off to discover the foam plug had deteriorated. Replaced that with a closed cell foam rubber plug and did the same at the top of the mast. Then just a tiny squirt of sealant into every rivet. Took about an hour and cost $6.00 for the sealant.
The last time I pitchpoled was last summer and it is still holding up great. No problem righting by myself and no water in mast. I sail on the Great Salt Lake and sometimes go for miles in water as shallow as 3-4 feet and many times thinner. Never a problem.
Seal your mast and ditch the Bob.

Bill:

Do you have that Secumar Auto Inflation Anti-Inversion Mast Float? Its really interesting. If so, how'd you attach it to the top of your mast? I've heard of people tying fenders to their mast top, but its odd just having that thing flop around and sway in the wind.

Thanks,
-Evan

I disassembled an old mast from a 69 boat, and it had two mast plugs in each end. Each of them were completely covered over with clear silicone, rather than just around the perimeter. I followed that line of thinking when I finally took my mast base off of the mast I normally use.

_________________
Steve
2017 Hobie 16 "Cayman" sails 114795
1985 & 1973? Hobie 14 "Sea & Ski"