Back stay and Mast Cap

Langg · Post by **Langg** » Wed May 28, 2008 1:23 pm

Did the 2003

come with a cap on the mast
and is it supposed to have a back stay?
The broker told me no on both. Is this true?

parrothead · Post by **parrothead** » Wed May 28, 2008 1:38 pm

None of the

models have had a backstay.
My '05 came with a white plastic mast cap.

Post by **Russ** » Wed May 28, 2008 2:05 pm

My '08 M has a plastic cap on the mast. Not much to it actually but it fits over the top and probably keeps rain and birds out. I had to drill the rivets out to get it off.

No to the backstay. Just shrouds raked aft.
This freaks me out as my last boat had a backstay and I'm constantly reaching for the invisible stay.

This is what it looks like when I removed the cap

Bill Earnhardt · Post by **Bill Earnhardt** » Wed May 28, 2008 5:27 pm

I had an o3, it had a mast cap

Langg · Post by **Langg** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:30 am

Ok Thanks...i thought they probably came with some kind of cap.
wasnt sure about the backstay....seems like you would need one.

c130king · Post by **c130king** » Thu May 29, 2008 6:55 am

Does the 2003

have the rotating mast? Not sure when the rotating mast came out. A "normal" backstay won't work with a rotating mast...will it?

Some here have built running backstays to go with rotating masts.

My

has a black mast cap...which I have cracked and repaired with duct tape.

Jim

Langg · Post by **Langg** » Thu May 29, 2008 2:28 pm

Yes it does have a rotating mast

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Thu May 29, 2008 3:24 pm

Mast caps are exceedingly easy to make. I used a cutting board from walwart. 1 piece slightly smaller than the inside and 1 pice slightly larger than the outside bolted together.

There are 4 or 5 discussions re: this on the archives, different solutions to the same problem.

tangentair · Post by **tangentair** » Thu May 29, 2008 4:25 pm

What size is your garage door? There is no way I could ever get my boat inside even with the mast laying on the floor. Nice pictures by the way.

PeteC · Post by **PeteC** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:15 am

What are the advantages of having a mast cap?

Should I make one for my X (boat, not wife)?

K9Kampers · Post by **K9Kampers** » Fri May 30, 2008 9:32 am

What are the advantages of having a mast cap?

So your masthead doesn't get sunburned!

RickJ · Post by **RickJ** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:00 pm

PeteC wrote:What are the advantages of having a mast cap?
Should I make one for my X (boat, not wife)?

I suspect the reason the factory put one on the M is to stop the foam getting saturated. The X mast is empty, so any rain will just run out the bottom.

The usual reason for making a cap for an X is to mount things on top of the mast, e.g. light, wind sensor, antenna, etc.

Cheers, Rick

K9Kampers · Post by **K9Kampers** » Fri May 30, 2008 2:20 pm

In addition to what Rick said, having a cap on an X mast will help keep bugs, bees & birds from making a home in there. While beneficial for mounting stuff, the same can be accomplished without.

Scott · Post by **Scott** » Fri May 30, 2008 4:44 pm

Tangent, Thass' funny. The boat isnt under the mast BTW.

As for the need or benefit, It makes a good place to mount stuff and next time I work on it there wont be 3 petrified birds in there.

MacGregorSailors.com

MacGregorSailors.com

Back stay and Mast Cap

Back stay and Mast Cap

mast cap