Foam fill mast

Hi Guys, has anyone ever thought about filling the top 1/3 of the mast with expanding foam for extra floataton?

cheers Mick

Filling the mast with foam would not provide “extra” flotation, it would just add more weight - making the boat more prone to capsizing and more difficult to right after a capsize. If your mast leaks, the best course of action is to find the source of the leak and seal it.

sm

I agree with SRM, that much spray foam will add extra weight, and I believe most of the spray foams are open cell, which would just soak up water. I've heard of people using pool noodles on other boats with open extrusions. Pool noodles are closed cell and lightweight, however our masts were designed to be air tight, so just plug up any holes and call it good.

Correct. Filling an air void with foam increases weight and does not increase the volume for additional flotation. Of course, this assumes the mast is sealed. You need to displace additional water to add buoyancy. The mast floats do that. Even a beach ball up there would work.

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

Hi Thanks all, I have just brought the boat and haven't had it in the water as yet, its in the shed over winter getting some loving. it has a fishing net bouy glued on top of the mast at the moment the original owner said it works well, but it just looks dickie.

Filling the mast with foam won't increase it's displacement so no additional flotation is gained. However, if your mast leaks then sealing it can keep it from turtling. In almost all instances, some portion of the mast top will submerge due to weight from the sail and position of the boat. But sealed mast that does not allow water to fill it, will resist turtling for a long while.