Jim, I have a 2004 model, and Bob Eeg suggested that I loosen the shrouds when raising and lowering. However, the mast butt was smoothly beveled when I bought the boat from the original owner, and the mast seems to go up and down readily with the shrouds tensioned. I wonder if Dwyer delivered masts of this configuration during that era. My real problem was that the wires in the mast somehow got forced into the bottom of the sail slot when I lowered the mast, so I put a plug of epoxy in the slot to keep the wires out. Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla On Sep 9, 2009, at 7:24 PM, James Poulakis wrote:
Thanks Joe, Can you raise and lower the mast with the shrouds set up? Did you cut the base as well or just the backside?
Jim
On Sep 9, 2009, at 5:00 PM, Joe Murphy wrote:
I hope it's not a problem ...I cut out the backside of my mast 2" high by 3/4" wide to allow for the VHF antenna wire to run down through the center of the mast plate and not get in the way when I raise/lower the mast. It's still standing.
Joe Seafrog M17
----- Original Message ----- From: "James Poulakis" <picfo@comcast.net> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 7:15 PM Subject: M_Boats: Mast Base Radius
Spirit is a 2008 M17 with the newer Dwyer mast and fixed spreaders. Because of the way the mast base is configured, the rig cannot be raised/lowered with the shrouds attached and tensioned properly. This was discussed in a recent thread and Gary H explained how he cut a bevel or radius in the mast base that corrected this flaw. I understand the concept and it makes sense. However, it also means cutting away a fair amount of the mast base that spreads its load on the deck plate. I think this SHOULD be okay. But I want to make sure I understand the project completely BEFORE I start cutting a chunk out of my mast so…
1) Gary could you please e-mail me a picture of the finished product?
2) Do any of you boatbuilders, engineers, and physicists see this modification creating a stress / structural / safety problem? (I know for a fact that there is at least one of each of those professions in this marvelous group).
Thanks, Jim _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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Remember, there is no privacy on the Internet!