R22 Discussion Group

Thomas:

If your boat is like mine (76) the track is bolted to the deck directly. The bolts thread into the fiberglass with no backing washers or nuts. Because 1976 boats were built by outside contractors many shortcuts were made and I assumed that this was one of them but learned much later that this is how Stan built them. It didn't look adequate to me - even though it had lasted 40 years without obvious problem - so I drilled the holes to accept bolts, used longer bolts and re-attached the tracks with washers and locknuts

I removed the tracks because I was painting the deck and cockpit. One thing I noticed was that there were spider cracks around all of the holes that were not visible when the track was in place. It is good practice I think to countersink holes through fiberglass slightly so the gel coat does not crack. If I were to replace the bolts without nuts or washers I would use some sealant on the threads as there might be a greater chance of leaking or loosening once the bolts had been removed. However my obsessive nature would probably drive me to add the nuts and washers.

Graham Stewart
Agile, Rodes 22, 1976
Kingston Ontario

The Rhodes 22 Discussion Group

Graham Stewart

Jib T track replacement