Here is what I did to the mast base:




Drilled and tapped hole to take a quarter inch screw with an o-ring to seal it. There was about half a gallon of water in there....





edited by: catdan, Jul 25, 2009 - 10:10 PM

Does this interfere with the mast rotation?

good idea, but i think thats problematic.. I would have put it in the bottom inch of the mast.. .not the mast base

looks like it will break off... or
wear a track into your mast base... ot
break of one of the mast step tabs (where the pin goes).

No, it works fine, No problem whatsoever; it is completely out of the way yet accessible. It does not interfere with anything, neither mast rotation nor pins, nor does it come close to the mast base. Maybe the pics do not make it clear, but the pins and step hinge are on the other side. The bolt is in the front.

Here is another pic with the mast raised. I am not saying it will work with all cats, but it sure seems to do with Prindles. The bolt is far enough in the front to allow a 90 degrees mast rotation without touching the mast base.

After looking at the pictures it appears that the boat in the photos is a Prindle 18 or at least a Prindle with a mast rotation control device. No stops on the mast base, I do not believe that it work on a Prindle 16 or any other boat with mast stops such as H-16s and others. I, like Andrew said, think that it would be better approx 1 inch up from the base on most cats.

Cool.. if it clears everything.. then you should be fine.