Jib / Genoa Track Re-bed - Construction

[rjm]

Hello Fellow Hunter Owners,

I recently purchased a 1987 Hunter 40 Legend. I've notice a soft spot in the middle starboard side deck (about 2 ft. by 2 ft) about mid-way down the jib sheet track. While it's not going to sink the boat anytime soon, it's going to drive me crazy every time I step on it, even if nobody else who comes on the boat notices it. I'm planning to repair it (I'll take comments on repair as well - I'm planning cut top of deck off around the soft spot, clean out the rotted core, epoxy coat some marine plywood, stick it in there then glass over that, and fair it).

Obviously though the soft spot is resulting from a leak, which should also be remedied. My first thought is the jib track should be pulled up and re-bedded (if there are folks who suspect the toe rail let me know). I went below and stuck my head under the headliner above the icebox and noticed.... no bolts... what's going on here? Is the jib track screwed down? If so, should I fill the screw holes in with epoxy and re-drill those as well? I think I'd be a little weary of just screwing the screws back into the same already threaded holes after I've broken them free? If the track sits on solid fiberglass, maybe the leak is at the deck-hull joint under the toe rail....

 

[Zoom767]

Hi RJM,

I just went through a very similar situation and I spent hours and hours researching what to do. I'd like to help you out any way I can.

I own a 1990 Hunter 35.5 Legend. I was getting a leak inside the starboard wall in my head and the colour of the leak was brownish. Lots of help was received from this forum in determining what the possible issue was. Finally, I decided that the leak was coming from the Genoa track, but how it was attached to the deck was causing me great concern.

I sincerely hope the following helps you out.

The screws that hold the track down are NOT secured by bolts and washers on the underside of the deck. They are simply screwed right into the deck. I did the most uncomfortable thing of taking a dremel to an inconspicuous spot in the head and cut into the liner to expose exactly what was going on beneath the genoa track and exactly how the track was secured to the deck (

picture attached). This is how I verified that it is simply screwed right into the deck.

I used my air compressor impact gun and removed all of the screws and removed the track. Once this was removed, it was very apparent that this is where the leak was coming from. What a poor system!!

What I did was use what a number of folks swear by -- butyl tape! I lined the underneath of the track, as well as lining a "circle of butyl tape" around each hole in the deck -- AND lining a layer of butyl tape around the head of the screw on top of the track. Once the track was put back into place, I tightened everything down and cut away the excess tape.

Next, I waited for the next downpour of rain After numerous deluges, I'm happy to report that there was no more evidence of any leakage. BOTTOM LINE -- Butyl Tape to the rescue.

If I can help you out in any other way, please feel free to contact me to discuss further at rwbyers@sympatico.ca

Best Regards, Rob

 

[rjm]

Rob,

Thank you so much for the response and the great info! I actually just did a Jib Track replacement on my Pearson 30 this summer (before I knew I was getting the Hunter) and I also used Butyl Tape. I agree, it works great! Unfortunately on the Pearson the tracks followed the curve of the toerail which made bending it on a pain in the butt. I'm happy to see the nice straight track on the Hunter (not sure which is better for sail trim, but I know I'll be cursing a lot less while doing this repair).

I'm very surprised/intrigued that they just screwed the tracks into the fiberglass like that. Did you feel confident in just reusing the screw holes that were there, or would us suggest glassing the holes and retapping them?

 

[Dan_Y]

The hunter tech support told me once that if you did not see nuts on the track bolts on the underside, or the underside was inaccessible without cutting an inspection hole in the hard headliner, then the track was bolted to an embedded aluminum plate that was sandwiched in the glass. The plate was tapped for something like 1/4-20 machine screws. I would bet that is what you have, otherwise it probably would have pulled through long ago. I found this to be true on our h30.

 

[Zoom767]

Excellent point Dan_Y,

I have to admit, I was very concerned that the bolt was just through the fibreglass and was expecting to see a metal plate with washer on the underside.

However; in looking at what would be required to put one in (i.e. taking the dremel tool to destroy the entire interior heading) I decided to place my faith in the Hunter Engineers as after all, the genoa track wasn't pulled out of its mooring in the deck and it wasn't an issue up until now (over 20 years).

Your post has put my mind at ease and hopefully RJM will be able to affect a quick and easy repair.

RJM,

I completed the entire process within one short afternoon. In answer to your question, I decided to just use the same screw-holes. As I mentioned, there were numerous downpours after my repair and there were no leaks. The only thing I would do different is using just a little less butyl tape which I used between each hole running longitudinally (the extra thickness made it necessary to apply excess pressure to the screws). I ran a 'string' of the tape between each hole as shown in the attached photo. Please note that this probably was not necessary and just a small encircling of tape around each hole would have sufficed -- but I was gun-shy

All the best and good luck,
Rob

 

[rjm]

Dan,

Thanks for that input, that makes a bit more sense that there would be some sort of metal backing.

I was just thinking that the butyl tape on this install will be a bit tricky since you normally would wrap the butyl tape around the bolt on the underside of the jib track, and then tighten the bolt from the underside so as not to turn the screw and thus potentially dislodge the butyl tape from around the screw. Maybe wrapping the butyl to the left around the screw so that it gets pulled in tighter against the screw when you fasten it down would help negate that.

Thank you to both for sharing. I'll post some pics, when I end up doing this.