heads door sticking advice requested

[baggypipes]

weve viewed a boat & noticed the heads & another door oposite sticking! the mast is stepped just above, owner said it was due to the rigging too tight one side.
is this feasible or could there be other probs, ie weak coach roof where the mast sits.
any comments welcome thanks

 

[charles_reed]

It is, possibly hull distortion due to rigging load, but that is very unusual in a coach-stepped mast.

If it's happening on both sides it's unlikely to be due to rigging on one side being up to tight.

However, if the boat is out of the water it's most likely poor propping with all the weight being taken on the keel.

 

[MrCramp]

When a boat is out of the water you often find some of the doors stick a bit and it corrects itself when floating again. If you are talking about a boat that is afloat then I would be more concerned. The owners explanation might be correct but the rigging must be way too tight. I would definately want a good surveyour to look at it.

 

[Skyva_2]

Look for depression at the mast step and also inside at foot of compression post, you don't say what boat is is but some are prone to it. Expensive to remedy!

 

[Otter]

Slacken off the rigging a bit and try the doors again? But it's a potential worry. If it's a well known make it will beeasier to find out if it's a common problem. BTW - fin or bilge keel?

 

[BobnLesley]

Our Albin Vega had this problem when the mast step began to sag (A regular problem with Vegas) I've subsequently jacked the beam back up and reinforced it, but short term we just took off the heads door and rehung it a half inch lower. Overtightened rigging could well be the cause (it was with ours) but easing it back off is unlikely to make it spring back, unless you subsequently leave the rigging (too) loose.

 

[rivonia]

We had the same problem. The mast was taken down when we went on the hard and work done in the shed. Now back in the water mast up rigging tuned ..Doors now open close freely. So owner was probably correct

 

[Skyva_2]

Via PM, the OP says the boat is in the water. Why has the owner not put the rigging right before selling?

 

[Refueler]

What boat ?

My boat has deck stepped mast and it doesn't take much over-tightening to have heads door sticking. There is no fault in the boat - but it happens.

The amount of downforce applied by a mast because of weight, stays, particularly if you are tensioning forestay against backstays for bend / rake etc. - is considerable. To stop compression of a deck-head would require an RSJ on the average boat.

The matter is the amount of compression - is it within acceptable limits or to such a degree that indicates weak deck or structural failure ?

Many older boats have a bulkhead with bog etc sited midships to provide support to the deck in that area. As it's usually a ply bulkhead it can never provide similar to a mast compression strut as used in many open plan boats.

My race boat had a strut fitted for this as it was inevitable we would be winding up back-stays / forestays etc. for that days wind etc. You can't do that on most bulkhead fitted deck-stepped jobs.

I know there are now going to be arguments against my above ... name of the game !!

A comment was made about if boat was ashore - this can have a large effect on things like this, boats are not as rigid as people think. They do take up depending on props / blocks / supports. My boat will open / close bog door quite happily ashore with mast stepped and tensioned. Put it in water and it catches.