Hi,
I am new to this forum, but excited to see, how much active posts here are! Last year my girlfriend and I started over with our cat sailing buying an Inter 20. We sail mostly in France or the Netherlands, so whether Atlantic coast or internal lakes.
Hence, some repair I still have to do on the Inter 20 and I hope I can get some tips from you-
I think to renew the mast main fitting, since the iron where the main shakle is placed , is worn out.
I wonder, if there are washers on the inside of the mast to spread the force from the rivets into the carbon laminate of the mast. Maybe I would not be able to access these washers, when putting new rivets on the repaired fitting. (...?)
On the other hand the replacement of these rivets may be just straight forward, just like any other rivet replacement on the aluminium parts of the boati.e.-
I have no idea..... but surely I don't want to put damage to the mast following the intention to repair it.

Does anyone have experience in replacing the main fitting before, or does anyone know, how I could get in contact with the manufacturer of the mast?

Thanks in advance for all infos-

Norbert , Germany

I found it easy to weld stainless washers onto each side of it to repair the elongated hole. Use a good heat sink.

Don't you think that welding stainless washers on each side of the mast tang you can damage the carbon fibre of the mast with heat?

Nope, but that is why I suggested using a heat sink to prevent damage. Doing it carefully with a TIG will keep the heat from frying the mast. I am not the only member here who has used this method with good results.

Hi Bacho & Elcazador,
sorry, it took me some days to follow op your kind replies.
Anyway, thanks for your tips!
Looks like my inter 20 is not the only one that suffers from widened mast tang.
But- drilling the old rivets repairing the tang outside with a much thicker vertical plate would forecome these troubles once and for all. Do you know the mast manufacturer, maybe they can tell which rivets needs to be fixed and if it would be wise to proceed in this way....

Norbert

Norbert,
I wouldn't recommend you to drill the rivets from the mast plate because, in my opinion, you will never obtain the same result of the manufacturer in replace them. Consider two things: 1. each one of the rivets must be inserted in a small goblet to ensure the water resistance of the mast, which I presume you want to keep; 2. you are working on carbon fibre...
This last considaration is driving me to a different solution: To insert a stainless steel thick tube (of the same external diameter of the original hole in the plate) into the elongated hole to distribute the strengh on a larger surface, being prepared to replace the tube every... year, couple of years, never more!
This solution should be better than welding anything or drilling factory rivets.
I'll keep you informed on results.

Hi,
good idea, a tube should spread the tension much better than washers.
You are right, any not perfect strong connection at that part of the boat bears risks to crew and material. Defining the right rivet isn' t trivial at all, not to talk about the
way to fix them. If we talk about 6mm non stainless steel rivets, most hand pliers won't do.
What annoys me @ nacra boats sometimes, is that same parts on smaller / as well as on larger boats are used, although wear is more stronger on an 20ft than on a 18ft.
Same counts for rudder heads/ tillers, jib furlers, etc.

kind regards

Norbert