Tidbit of info on the 23's mast step

[Tim Gardner]

This is from the Sailboat Company in  NC:

Production started on the 23 in 1979 and 100 boats were built the first year. Business was good at Com-Pac factory and they were selling lots of boats. A new boat, the 19 was designed and put into production in 1981. The experienced person that glassed the 23s was moved to the new 19 production line and a new person was trained to do the 23s. The new person on the 23 production line did a fine job except for one small problem and that problem was only detected after about 20 boats were out in the field. The mast step of a 23 has 2 large pieces of 3/4 inch plywood that bridge the space between the bulkheads below. They are enclosed in glass and can't be seen. The top of the plywood is flat and the top of the mast step has a built in curve. They are part of of mast compression post system. The glass person was supposed to fill the curve area at the top of the mast step with filler and then press the plywood into place. He didn't do that until we found that we had problem in the field. Boats that sailed in light wind didn't have a problem. Nothing happened. Boats that sailed in big wind depressed the top of the mast step by about 1/2 inch and this was enough to crack the glass and allow water to penetrate the mast step area. Rotten wood and lots of cracks indicate a big problem. The factory and the dealer repaired the boats that had this problem at that time. Some boats may have been missed and I see one now and then that didn't get fixed. The warranty has expired after 26 years and the current cost of that repair is about $2,000.

TG

[Bob23]

Very interesting, Tim:
   How do you come by this top secret info? Was 1979 the only year affected or did this problem sneak into other years?
Bob23

[Billy]

81 would have been the problem year.

[stickbreaker]

I have a 1982, Hull Number 178... The mast step has glass cracks all around the the edges, Where it drops 2" port and starboard and where the hatch hinges attach. The actual metal step part the mast slides into is fine and there are no cracks there. The compression has actually caused a slight depression in the cabin roof visible from the inside.

[GrafLuckner]

on hull number 140, built in 1981, I have exactly that problem; 30 years later; see my postings on problems with "raising the mast" that turned into "I just discovered a bad mastfoot".

GL