Mast Leaking at Partners

[Dick York]

Michael started a question about leaking at the mast partners.

I would be interested in others' experiences too..

On J/46 ARAGORN, we had leaking even with a professional Spartite pour.

After two years in the Islands, crossing channels with trade wind seas, we found we needed to cover everything at least twice.

Long story short, we now have:

1.  Spartite done by exacting owner.  Great support, but it will never waterproof the mast.

2. Covered by two wraps of the sticky, rubbery stuff roofers use to waterproof.  Flashing tape is one name for this material.  There are others, like a butyl tape for RV roofs.  Anyway, two wraps cover the join from partner to mast.

3.  My mast has weird little places of dimples or indents, so some regular tape to cover those gaps.  Especially under the lower vang attachment.

4. A covering of self-amalgamating white wrap for UV protection.  

5.  more narrow tape to cover other dimples.

Now we are dry down below.  No more streaks on the woodwork.

.....Dick York .... J/46 #9 ARAGORN

[David Jade]

We have this, which is some sort of self-bonding stretchy rubber that comes in a roll that is made for sealing masts along with a special type of adjustable band clamp. Some sealant under the top edge as well. It conforms to the odd shape and does not leak at all. 

We got it from https://ecmrigging.com/

David                      _/)

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On Jul 7, 2025, at 4:30 PM, Dick York <york.r...@gmail.com> wrote:

Michael started a question about leaking at the mast partners.

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[Ed Sitver]

This is the mast boot solution that I found works extremely well: https://waterboot.com

Hat tip to John at Attainable Adventure Sailing (https://www.morganscloud.com).
E

[York.richardw]

Dave-  Right!  

We had the bands over rubber a few generations ago.  They worked well, but I still had minor trickle where the dimples and similar made any concave parts of the mast.  I think silicone seal injected near where the bands were, stopped those leaks (cannot tell for sure, but it looks like you have some sealant).  Your solution is certainly more yachtie than the black sticky stuff on my mast.

Once we found the sticky stuff, I think I was able to eliminate the bands (although I may have had them on for a generation or two).

Mast sealing is an organic process…

… Dick

On Jul 8, 2025, at 06:17, Ed Sitver <esi...@gmail.com> wrote:

This is the mast boot solution that I found works extremely well: https://waterboot.com

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/71352acb-abb2-4912-a0df-2a0daa376910n%40googlegroups.com.