Pearson Boats - Common Systems > Mast and Spar Issues

Need New Mast Step

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rbrtfeld:
The plastic idea from Captain Ron is interesting but I am wondering if one could be made out of Carbon Fiber??????

rnebergall:
I should have mentioned that the fabrication done for Zufrieden by the local marina was made with fiberglass.  It's been three seasons, without any issues.  Total cost was just under $500.  The boat is under cover, 400 miles away, so I can't provide a picture right now, but it seems to have been a good choice.  Time will tell, I guess.

Alma:
I have had three mast steps on ALMA. The original one rusted. The base of the mast corroded along with it. I took the old mast step and strapped it to my motorcycle to take it to a machine shop. When I arrived it was gone! Likely it found a home in a school bus windshield... Now I had no step for a template.

Luckily a local rigger was working on a sister ship 323 and he allowed me to come aboard and make detailed drawings. I had a new steel one made and took it to a 'powder coating' shop for the "miracle of the 90's"- Powder Coating. It lasted about a month before bubbles of rust emerged.

The steel lasted long enough for me to come up with a new step that was:

1) Corrosion PROOF.

2) Galvanically benign to the Aluminum MAST.

3) STRONG enough to handle the LOADS of the 'tension rod' that keeps the bulkheads firmly in their molded pockets when the shrouds try and squeeze the hull and lift the deck from the hull when hard on the wind. I did not believe an Aluminum Step can hold these loads with the current rod- Ed's 1/2 inch plate looks robust enough- LOL!

4) Electrically ISOLATED from the mast to allow the bonding to attach to the mast and NOT trust electrical bonding (less than a couple of volts) continuity through the step.

5) Elevated off the bilge to compensate for TWO rounds of trimming the base of the mast to cut beyond the corrosion. Remember the shrouds and stays are in agreement with the original dimensions of the uncut mast. And high and dry from nuisance bilge water.

6) Strong enough to locate the mast in it's perfect position for alignment and rake.

7) Self draining of rainwater that enters through the sheeve box.

8) PRETTY! after screwing around with this for years I wanted an elegant solution-

I found the answer with a stainless steel step with a bi-axial fiberglas 'cup' locating the mast and electrically insulating the aluminum from the stainless steel.
A simple aluminum plate in the fiberglass prevents the mast extrusion from cutting into the fiberglass cup-

It is six years old now and looks like new-

Rusty Pelican:
Here is a re-post of my mast step.
From start to finish took 5 days.

I am sharing experiences on trying to acquire a new mast step for my P323 so as to save you time when the time comes for your replacement.

FORGET Rigrite. I contacted them and sent them the information detailed on their website on May 20th, and after three phone calls; NOTHING. From what I hear from people in the trade, they do not understand how they stay in business and really only sell parts. If you want old parts, give them a try, for custom stuff forget it
Every lead from this website came to a dead end, sad to say

It took me four weeks to find the guy who makes P323 and other mast steps and five days to make it.

Dick Conti was the MetalMast shop supervisor who oversaw the Pearson account; (BTW: he was not responsible for the carbon steel mast steps) He is also the guy who makes the custom mast steps for RigRite.
He has a vast selection of mast sections in his shop. Send him a tracing of your mast section on a nice thin piece of wood, and five days later your in business.
Here is pic of the step and a pdf of his business card
My launch date is July 2nd, 33rd launch streak

Good luck

Rusty Pelican:
Here ids Dick Conti's email.
He is based out of Connecticut

   Ex Products Llc    dcproductsllc@yahoo.com

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