While out sailing this weekend, I looked up the mast (while on a beat) to see how much mast bend there was. On a Port tack it was as I expected a slight consistent bend. However on a Starboard tack it was different. The Comp tip was leaning to windward, and the mast seemed to be kinked (for lack of a better word) right at the connection of the lower and upper sections.
So I dropped the mast and inspected the section of the comp tip that inserts into the lower section. It looks like it was sanded down to fit into the lower section, which I think is a normal manufacturing procedure. The comp tip fit snug into the lower section, however there was a gap (more sanded off) on the port side. Using Duck Tape (to experiment) I built up the port side and took her out sailing again and found the “kink” to be reduced quite a bit.
So now I’m looking for a more permanent fix and wonder what I should use to build up that portion of the comp tip. One spot already looks like it was patched; the material is similar to JB weld, but that’s just a guess.
Any suggestions on what to use would be appreciated.
Charlie
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