Taping mast joint

[LaserBill]

The rules were recently amended to include the following:

"Flexible adhesive tape may be applied to the
outside of the joint of the upper and lower mast
sections to a limit of 40mm above and below the
joint to prevent rotation of the mast sections at the joint."

My questions: Has anyone tried this yet?
What type of tape do you use?

My concern is that adhesive from the tape will end up on the inside of the sail sleeve. Another concern is that adhesive residue will end up on the mast sections generally making a mess. So, is it worth taping the mast joint, and what type of tape are people using?​

 

[tobyayre]

My old mast was getting wobbly so I wrapped 2-3 layers of electricians tape round. It turned out the mast was very old and needed replacing anyway because it snapped the next time I sailed!

 

[Rob B]

I've always thought you could apply tape around the "collar" of the upper mast section to tighten the fit. Such as, a wrap of packaging tape around the upper portion of the collar and the lower portion of the collar.

 

[Chainsaw]

...photo of broken top section...

Same thing happened to me. Someone told me that the rivet should always be at the back to hold it in compression rather than tension. Dunno if that's true but I'm doing it now since ripped sails aren't my idea of fun.

On some days my top and bottom sections are tight, on others loose. Maybe it's temperature change, because I always wipe the collars and bottom section for salt or grime before assembling.

 

[tobyayre]

Yes, that's correct. On new mast sections they have red arrows which when correctly aligned mean that the rivet is in compression.