Dart 15 Forums

I am having difficulties putting my mast together. I keep the cat in France and only assemble it in July for 7 weeks leisure sailing, It is then put back on the trailer and stored locally. This year it took 3 of us and plenty of lubricant to fit the two parts together. The plastic joining piece seems to have expanded slightly with a small about 1mm split on one edge making it a very tight fit. Can I shave off a small amount to make assembly easier? And if so what should I use?
Keith Thomas 1434

Hi Keith, not sure why the mast sleeve its self would suddenly expand, but as it has you are properly safe to sand it down to the glass , ie remove the gelcoat surface . It is possible if water gets into the resin it can expand the laminate.
If you need to go further we would suggest you do a few bend tests on the mast when assembled but before going sailing rather than risk a broken sleeve joint when sailing .
Brian
Windsport Sprint 15 technical support

Brian, thanks. I can see on the joint piece where it is rubbing on the mast in a few spots so will start by just easing those spots.