fixing mast foot position

Question
hi there,  We have a couple of very old Mistral boards (e.g. 15-20yrs!) that are in great shape due to lack of use.  i tried to resurrect them yesterday to teach my niece and nephew to windsurf and could not figure out how to fix the mast foot position in one place.  It kept sliding back and forth.  i had the same problem with both boards which leads me to believe that it is not an equipment problem but a lack of memory on my part for how to do it.  Any advice?

Answer
Hey Jane,

There are two types of moveable mast tracks. They both use a small pedal that when pushed down it releases the track allowing it to move.

One type rotates a tubular piece of metal that has a long slot with small side slots at set positions. When you depress the pedal it turns the tube to allow the mast track to move and when you release the track will slip into one of the side slots to lock the mast in position.

The other type has a track that has four rollers that roll forward and back in a track system. There is a rope that loops front to back that is locked into place just below the pedal. When the pedal is depressed, it releases the rope which allows the track to roll forward and back until the pedal is released and locks the mast in position. Where the first type has set positions, this type allows the mast to be in any position on the board that you wish.

Now to your sliding problem. If all the parts are in working order, there is probably something that is stuck in the pedal assembly. It could be sand or salt or possibly something broken. I would start with using a hose with a spray nozzle and thoroughly rinse the pedal assembly. Move the pedal while rinsing it to help break loose any particles that may be jamming the assembly. Rinse the track system the same way. If this doesn't resolve your problem, then try soaking the system. Set the board flat and fill the track system with hot water until it is overflowing. Let it set for a while adding hot water as needed to keep the system soaking. Then rinse thoroughly again and see if that fixes things. If that doesn't resolve the problem, then there may be something broken. Hopefully they just need a good rinsing and you will be on you way.

Hope this helps.
Keep on sailing,
Windlover