Back again for more advice.
I decided to investigate the foot of my mast as it has a relctance to turn or swivel whilst sailing.
I removed the nut that holds the foot plate on and discovered ......... Nothing.
All there is is a captive bolt on the inner side welded into position and a captive steel washer on the underside. There is a further loose steel washer on the underside.
Do i have something missing? as this seems a poor idea as the forces acting on the mast particulary with the sails up to restrict any swivelling action.
The only thing i have done thus far is to slightly tighten the nut but not enough to restrict free play with the loose washer.
I was expecting some sort of bearing/joint , such is my lack of knowledge and there appears nothing on the Magregor 26M home page to help further.
So any suggestions appreciated as i want to get Zakanaka back on its mooring in a months time.
Kindest regards
Paul :D
Sun, 15/02/2015 - 5:08pm
#1
26 M mast
My 26M mast was also reluctant to swivel. On investigation I discovered that the nut on the captive bolt (on the foot plate for the mast) was very loose and the mast was twisting under load and jamming. There were at least three bronze washers to allow it to turn so I took these off and cleaned them too.
Two seasons later the same problem happened again. The nut needs to be locked off in a 'loose fit' but I have not managed to source another nut with the same thread to be a lock nut. The other option I though about was to drill a hole through the nut and bolt and fit a split pin but I haven't had a chance to do this yet.
I can't offer any specific advice on the mast swivel, having never owned a 26M, but a good place to source nuts & bolts with matching threads is eBay. The threads used throughout Macs are American UNC, mainly 1/4", 5/16" & 3/8" (AF spanner sizes 7/16", 1/2", & 9/16" respectively). Just search for these on eBay and you'll find lots of sellers offering different quantities and selections at quite low prices. Don't confuse UNC with UNF. The latter are fine thread typically used in cars and engines, but all the rigging stuff in a Mac is UNC coarse thread.
Rick Jones (Treasurer), former 26X & 19 owner, Isle of Wight
When I bought my bost new the agent had set it up and the mast swivelled fine but after a little while the rig seemed too loose on the forestay so I tightened it using the bottle screw that is covered by the lower roller housing. I then found the mast rotation very stubborn and was advised to slacken the shroad tension a little and that worked.
I have found it hard to get tensions right with the plate and pin system and have changed by shroufs to have bottle screws.
These days a decent wind will rotste the mast by a light wind needs me to give a sharp tug on the main sheets before it rotates.
I think a bit of greace on those washers is a good idea.
hope that helps..Roly.
This subject has been addressed widely on the U.S. forum where advice has been to used either plastic washers, grease, and to fit a roller bearing. I do agree that too much tension in the shrouds can be an issue. When I had an M I used silicone grease as it seems to last a season and is resistant to water. This is I think something for annual maintenance rather than fix and forget.
Oh, I've had lots of fun with my swivelling mast, sail battens getting caught in lazyjack lines, trips to the mast to kick the swivel to correct it after tacking. So much so that I have applied two small steel plates, 1 each side of the mast so now it doesn't swivel at all! I now have even more fun actually sailing the boat and not worrying about a feature of the M that has marginal benefits.
John Richardson 26M 'Sonny' Christchurch
Hi John , sorry not to missed you at the AGM. Glad to know you are still active and look fwd to sailing with you this year. My M mast seems to swivell OK provided I yank the mainsheets if the wind is light. Its immportant not to have any control lines such as halyard or reefing led back to cockpit and cleated off there since it will stop free rotation . Also I have linked my lazy jack lines into the topping lift so that when I loosen that for sailing the lazy jacks are loose and wont snag anything. Im not sure that rotation affects that but you can tell me if the anti-rotation plates have done the job. It certainly would make the task of leading lines back to proper clutches a lot simpler.
I am however looking at creating some form of simply applied antirotation device to use if I sail at night with my newly fitted mast-head LED tricolor.
Roly