WHAT is leaking?

[David Tabor]

Just did Annapolis/Newport Race as well as Marion/Bermuda Race.  When we had the rail buried in the rough stuff, we were taking on water somewhere.  Interestingly, JADE also did the M2B and had the same problem.   

At first I thought it might be the anchor locker draining back into the bilge (like on a friend's J124) but that wasn't the issue.  Seems likely to be the stanchion bases and any other deck fittings.  Hopefully NOT the toe rail.

So, has anyone else had this problem and what did you discover?

Funny thing; JADE and DIANTHUS were both owned by the same previous owner at different times!

[Tom Keffer]

Did you check the padeye at the bottom of the anchor locker? Mine was installed without any sealant. 

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[David Tabor]

Definitely ruled out the anchor locker as the source.  The V berth area and the cockpit area are NOT the cause.   Definitely coming in Mid Boat area, which means behind all the furniture/liner.  Ugh.

[William C. Wohlforth]

As new owner I’m new to this list and so forgive me if it’s out of school, but congratulations on a splendid race: Well done!  Vicarious pride for all J/42 owners . . . .

 

Best,

 

Bill

 

From: j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of David Tabor <sailo...@gmail.com>
Date: Monday, July 7, 2025 at 8:14 AM
To: J/4X Owner's Group <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [J/4X-owners] WHAT is leaking?

You don't often get email from sailo...@gmail.com. Learn why this is important

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[Adam Ruscitto]

Were you able to isolate which tack you're taking on water? On my J/40 i had a bad check valve for the shower sump for the fwd head. became an issue with the port rail buried.  Might be worth taking a look.

Adam

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[Michael Moradzadeh]

A related question..

On the bash up the California coast, the foam ring around the mast at the deck fell out in pieces.

I cannot seem to locate a similar item and will likely just pack foam rod in there unless someone knows of a source.

yet another water ingress point!

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[smruff01]

David,

Congratulations on the races!  We watched the tracker for the M2B, and were thrilled with your finish!

FWIW, the J32 we owned until last year had leaks at the deck fills FWD of the mast, which were for the water tanks.  Once discovered, I removed, cleaned, and rebedded them.  I was shocked that one of them had an oversized hole in the deck, which was filled with sealant that had long since lost its sealing properties.  That one required epoxy work to bring the hole size down.  Now that we own a J42 of the same vintage, it's clear that the construction methods (both good and not so great) were the same for the two models.  Our J42 has similar deck fills forward of the mast (FWD holding tank pump out on PORT, and water fill on STBD).  Maybe check those?

Cheers,

Scott

[Jay PA]

Congrats on a well sailed race to Dianthus and Jade!  I monitored from Marion and witnessed your wild start. My J/42 Cirrus was angry at me for chaining her to her mooring. 

You likely had a wet, mostly starboard-tack beat out of the bay in 30+ knot headwinds, followed by a screaming starboard-tack close reach.  Wet wet wet!

The only hull penetration on port midships is the manual bilge pump discharge.  It has a vent loop just forward of the galley sink.  Maybe check the fittings and hose connections and the plastic anti-siphon vent.  Leaking stanchion bolts, genoa tracks or hull/deck bolts would either be extremely weak seepage or a visible loose bolt.  Leaking deck tank fittings would have fouled your fuel/water/waste tank.  (Tape over those when offshore.)

It's amazing how leaks can travel--especially in the conditions you experienced..  it took me years to find a sea hood wire chase tube sealant failure that leaked across my headliner and down to the companionway bilge.  An air conditioner condensate line check valve failure was another tough one. (Terrible post-commisioning install.) Cracked PVC fittings in the aft locker drains were annoying.  Leaking port and main hatch flange bedding issues were poor installation. The well documented anchor locker drain fix was critical.  Some have fixed water tank vent issues.  A leaking aft head shower drain tube was pretty sneaky.  Failed caulk around the forward head door casing caused rot in the bottom of that wall panel that required surgery.   A cracked anti-siphon vent on the engine loop was my most recently slayed dragon.  I think my quest for a completely dry bilge might be over.  For now.

Good hunting.

Jay P-A

J/42 Cirrus

[David Tabor]

Thanks for the search idea.   I was wondering about the bilge discharge.  Was on the boat today and started taking things apart.  Need to find the anti-siphon loop/vent.   Problem is, it also leaks on port tack...  Maybe not as badly.     The race was a big success for us, especially after finding every windless hole in the Annapolis/Newport Race.  But then again it was our first offshore on this boat and with new crew too.   And as the A team used to say.  I Love it when a plan comes together!   Us, Phoenix and Integrity made out going west.   Here's a good write up.   And the other boat in the pic is a friend's boat that I've done a couple of N2Bs on.

https://sailmagazine.com/racing/western-strategy-pays-in-marion-bermuda-2025/

[David Tabor]

Our SPARTITE slid up the mast and came out!  Someone (ME) didn't drill a hole or two in the stainless steel collar and put a screw in to retain it. I had seen it working loose and would beat it down with a dead blow hammer, but in the Gulf Stream it came up and water would pour down the opening when we took water over the bow.  I was at the helm for 14 hours straight as squall after squall nailed us.

[York.richardw]

Yes on the retaining set screws for the Spartite.  

But even then it does not provide a waterproof seal.   See separate thread on mast waterproofings 

On Jul 9, 2025, at 07:49, David Tabor <sailo...@gmail.com> wrote:

Our SPARTITE slid up the mast and came out!  Someone (ME) didn't drill a hole or two in the stainless steel collar and put a screw in to retain it. I had seen it working loose and would beat it down with a dead blow hammer, but in the Gulf Stream it came up and water would pour down the opening when we took water over the bow.  I was at the helm for 14 hours straight as squall after squall nailed us.

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[Sjors van der Woerd]

Hi,

We use psp mastcolar tape on our Felice, J-42 #7

Greetings from Norway this time,

Sjors

Op 9 jul 2025 om 15:04 heeft York.richardw <york.r...@gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:



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[Paul Rogers]

Check the cockpit scuppers.  On my J-42 #38 the integral starboard scupper developed a hole in the fg tube just forward of the hose connection.  It took me a long time to find the leak.

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[gale...@gmail.com]

My mystery leak was the exhaust hose has started to decay at the connection with the stern exhaust thru hull pipe. Only showed up when motoring or with a big following sea. I think there is a prior post on this. Again tough to find.

Galen 

J42 #57