Mast support on 1971 Ericson 32

[hotinja]

Hi guys, it seems to me the post from the corner of the bathroom is the mast support on the 32 model but mine looks like shown on the pics...the stays are still very tight, do you think it is a structural problem or just cosmetical?? How do you go to repair this??

 

[tenders]

Those cracks are - I won’t say normal, I won’t say nothing to worry about - TYPICAL with this design. It seems as though your boat has been reinforced with a crossbeam, although the photos are difficult to place. That reinforcement, plus the fact that the cracks do not seem to be leaking or oozing, are encouraging. I would suggest marking the ends of the cracks and watching them carefully to make sure they aren’t spreading.

The mechanics of that mast support are very simple. There’s fiberglass on the top and bottom, and there’s 1.5” of curved plywood core in the middle.

• Is it bad if the plywood rots? YES.
• Do holes drilled into, or through, that sandwich encourage water to intrude over time and cause rot? YES.
• Did the original design have holes drilled right through this for masthead and spreader light wiring? YES.
• Does your installation have extra holes drilled through next to the mast for some hardware? YES.
• Is it impossible to fix this if the rot occurs? NO, JUST MESSY, AND PROBABLY PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE IF YOU PAY SOMEBODY ELSE TO DO IT.

It probably isn’t a good candidate for anybody’s first epoxy repair, but it’s not technically difficult. The repair I did on my ‘69 is holding up well after ten years.

Seeking advice on E32 mast step repair

E32 mast step deck repair: an illustrated guide My 1969 Ericson 32, which I've owned since 1991, has a deck-stepped mast. Under the mast, just a bit to port of the centerline, is a mahogany compression post, and about 18” to the right of this is another mahogany post of somewhat less...

ericsonyachts.org

 

[Loren Beach]

One little opinion/data point: When those EY models were built there was not (AFAIK) a widely available & affordable product like G10/FR4. Plywood was used or sometimes a solid piece of hardwood. For a repair nowadays I would use "G10" and some thickened epoxy to bond all the parts.

 

[Cory B]

Our previous boat was an E32-2. We had a similar crack under the mast. In our case, the root problem was the cast iron that was underneath the beam that was transferring the load from the mast to the keel had weakened due to rust/corrosion. My solution was to take off the mast, jack up the deck slightly, clean up the old rusted iron. Build a dam around it. Pour thickened epoxy. That resolved the lower end problem.

Up above, if I recall correctly, the deck was still mostly solid. I went in from above and cleaned out any rot and reinforced the area with fiberglass and epoxy. I then used an oversized mast plate to spread the load out a little bit and mostly hide the repair. The work was messy at times, but not rocket science.