
Technical Advice
Recommended Standardized Mast Track Fix To Address Sail Pullout
Any worn section of track is suggested to be replaced with new pvc track. There are two sections of the mast that are prone to the most wear and pullout. Every boat will be slightly different, but the top 10-20 cm of track and the bottom 30-50 cm of track seem to be an issue on every boat. This procedure is the proposed standardized solution based on the manufacturers recommendations.
Parts and Equipment:

1 meter pvc track
3m 5200 adhesive
Masking tape
Carbon Fiber Ama Beam Repair (What to do and what not to do)
When the unimaginable happens, what should you do next? That was the question posed to me late Saturday morning by Alan Taylor upon discovering his forward starboard ama beam was snapped nearly in half. After some consideration and consultation, it was agreed bringing the boat to our warehouse in OBX and fixing it that weekend was the only way we could get this fixed for Alan to sail next week. Derigging at Kerr Lake was put on hold and a 4 hour trip was undertaken to meet up and formulate a plan. What follows is an account of our process and what we would have changed for next time:
The first step was to cleanly saw through the remainder of the crack to separate the beam into two pieces. When working with carbon or fiberglass, dust and splinters are a major hazard, so we employed the use of respirators, gloves,…
I think your technique was spot-on for this job, with the sleeve insert paired with the fiber over-wrap. Great advice on the finishing aspects, particularly the finishing tape. Thanks so much for such a thorough and clear description!
Securing gennaker lead to outer rail of ama
This past weekend I tested a forward and outboard lead poisiton for the gennaker by moving the ratchet blocks to the trampolene foot/hand strap that's just behind the shrouds. The position seemed to work, but I'd like a more secure solution for mounting the blocks. How have others accomplished this?
A more secure solution is to use a longer cord and secure the block underneath: ideally to the rail that you’re sitting on, but that’s hard to do without unlacing the tramp. You have lots of tramp lacing cord underneath you could tie to. I suppose you could even loop it through the shroud pad eye, that’s simple,

fast and very secure. I still run the block cord through t the hand strap, but the stitching on these is not something I want to trust for this block. For extra nerd points, I placed a grommet in a bit of webbing and stitched that to the tramp, but you have to unlace it to do that, it’s hardly mandatory. I also use two extra blocks secured to the front of the tramp (and here I do use the hand straps as there is less stress, secured with soft shackles) so that the genneker sheet crosses the vaka (main hull) just behind the access port. This arrangement sure eliminates getting tangled in or sitting on the genneker sheet. The boat is stowed in these pictures so don’t let the blue downhaul lines confuse you.

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I will try using a bit next time