Great feeling to get the mast down. Can of worms but good. Mast steps not corroded. 1 upper spreader us bent. Spreader tape old. Some rivetts seperating at spreader bases and some corrosion at the lower soreader ends. Still yet to see more. On top of this the guys thst hoisted the mast off were awesome and when thry discovered i used to paint steel boats in shipyards they offered me the job of rust removal/ painter which im gonna take. Joy!

Good stuff sector

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Sectorsteve said..
Great feeling to get the mast down. Can of worms but good. Mast steps not corroded. 1 upper spreader us bent. Spreader tape old. Some rivetts seperating at spreader bases and some corrosion at the lower soreader ends. Still yet to see more. On top of this the guys thst hoisted the mast off were awesome and when thry discovered i used to paint steel boats in shipyards they offered me the job of rust removal/ painter which im gonna take. Joy!

Sounds like it needed to come down Steve. Congrats on the job. You might get a freebie putting it back up if you are in the fold.

Arr, that be an unusual looking stern there for a Mk1. I am fond of looking at sterns, especially big ones, but there is something strange there. Looks like it might have been added at some stage, and hence the tension arms on the flat deck extension. The Mk1 usually have a cutout in the transom to mount the outboard.
Would be interesting to see what the TopHatters know about it.

Yeah its enclosed now. Theres a plate of stainless there for OB reinforcement.
Alot was changed on this boat. The mast, stays and boom are oversize for this boat. The boom is also a roller furling boom though i dont use it that way.
Also what do you mean by tension arms etc??

I think the tensioner arms are actually the bases of the backstay?? They look like they are attached to the deck of the transom.

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Sectorsteve said..
Yeah its enclosed now. Theres a plate of stainless there for OB reinforcement.
Alot was changed on this boat. The mast, stays and boom are oversize for this boat. The boom is also a roller furling boom though i dont use it that way.
Also what do you mean by tension arms etc??

slammin said..
I think the tensioner arms are actually the bases of the backstay?? They look like they are attached to the deck of the transom.

Thats right. Closer inspection shows they are just the backstay screws.

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slammin said...
I think the tensioner arms are actually the bases of the backstay?? They look like they are attached to the deck of the transom.

Yes! Need a big screw driver..or just leave em on and reconnect..

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Yara said..
Arr, that be an unusual looking stern there for a Mk1. I am fond of looking at sterns, especially big ones, but there is something strange there. Looks like it might have been added at some stage, and hence the tension arms on the flat deck extension. The Mk1 usually have a cutout in the transom to mount the outboard.
Would be interesting to see what the TopHatters know about it.

Yes Yara, looking at the traveller and the stern [where the removable section has been deleted] I am pretty sure that Steve's Top is a Formit build, not a Baker.

Steve can confirm this if the manufacturers plate is still in place on the main bulkhead or if the deck is of a composite construction.

Formit built 6 or 7 Mark 1's before introducing the Mark 2 late in 1972. Formits first Mark 1 lives near me at Port Macquarie.

All of Formits Top Hats [1,2,3 & 27'] had composite decks.

The pulpit is an original Top Hat type but the pushpit is a later build [maybe Formits version?].

I thought the formits didnt have the stepped down cabin which mine does
I do have an ID plate on the stern. Would that tell us?
Also from memory seeing the papers shes built-in 71

Formit built those 6 or 7 Mark 1's. If you post a photo inside the forward cabin looking up at the lower part of the deck I can tell if it is a Formit build.

The real confirmer is the composite deck for a Formit build.

Whats a composite deck?

Two layers of fiberglass with a foam/balsa/etc core.

This is what a Baker forward cabin roof looks like. The framework is necessary as there is only one layer of fibreglass.

Mines like that. Ill take pix tomorrow

Steve, get a photo looking at the stern inside the cockpit as well.

I think you are right about the boat being a formit mould philip. On closer inspection today i have those supports in the cabin but only across- not any fore and aft.
Slightly dissapointed about this but oh well. I still love her and still making her better and going cruising. She's probably not my forever girl. Just a play thing...