While taking my boat down (it had been together for a week straight in rather warm temperatures), I had problems with the mast step ball and pin. The pin was in as it should be and the mast was unstepped straight back, nice and slow. As I brought the mast down, I noticed that the ball had slipped by the pin about half way, wedgeing the pin in very tightly. I very carefully restood the mast and drove the pin out with a hammer and clevis pin after which the mast promptly reseated itself as it should on the ball. I reinstalled the pin and brought the mast down. The ball was not terribly damaged, only a good dimple in it where the pin had become compressed into it.
Nothing bad came as a result of this, but it bothers me anyways that it even happened... Any ideas why, or just one of those things that happens once in a while?
Did you rotate the mast sideways as you got close to the horizontal position with the mast? If not, the bottom of the sailtrack wedges against the cross bar and puts extreme pressure on the ball (can dent cross bar also).
Yep, I did, which is all the more confusing. It was while I was rotating that I noticed the problem because it just didnt feel right, like something was binding... which was the case.
No clue how you did that, but, check the threads inside the ball:
"It was while I was rotating that I noticed the problem because it just didnt feel right, like something was binding"
Depending on which way you turned the mast, (tightening the ball or loosening it) you might possibly have damaged your threads. Having the ball pop off is such an awful thing, particularly if your crew is underneath, it's worth checking.
Ed Norris
Had the same problem with my Nacra 5.8na....the pin was too long, and when the mast was rotated, it was hooking on a cam cleat mounted on the beam next to the ball. Check and make sure that when you rotate the pin, or even the split ring is not hooking on anything...that should do it...
In fact that same thing almost occured with my I-20...and the pressusre stripped the ball....lucky for me my wife used her head (literaly) to catch the mast!
Ouch! , Is she fine?
Thanks for the caring...she is fine...in fact she trapped out that day and had a great sail....
just a little goose egg and a scrape on her arm from the diamond wire....
I always use a safety line tied to around base of mast through a padeye or something sturdy, and tied to dolphin striker, when lowering mast, even if there is pin. It prevents these kind of accidental clobbering when pin mechanism fails or ball fails.