Dress Up Your MC

By Andy Burdick (National MC Champion)

[This article first appeared in the January 1992 issue of the MC Newsletter.]

Keeping your MC in tip-top shape is important in order to get the performance out of your boat. MC sailors are lucky! These boats are very easy to maintain and repair for speed. How should you maintain your MC for speed? There are steps you should follow to keep your MC clean and functional. These steps should be followed at least four times a summer if you are sailing the boat on a regular basis.

  1. Wet sand boards and rudders. Go in a horizontal (bow to stern motion) using 400 grit sandpaper first and then topping off with 600 grit. This will keep your blades residue free.
  2. Acetone (most hardware stores carry this) your spars. This will remove all tape marks and road dirt. A shiny, clean surface will show. (Avoid getting acetone on the sail-limit bands near the ends of the mast and boom as they will smear. Ed.)
  3. For the hull, just use your favorite dishwashing liquid (Dawn is the secret fast stuff!). Hot water and a sponge will clean inside and out. For the non-skid portion use Soft Scrub with a scrub brush.
  4. After a year you can flip your MC over and use rubbing compound on the hull. You may also do this on the brightwork on the deck. This will protect the hull.
  5. Apply WD40 to your traveler.
  6. Use Vaseline on the inside walls of your bailers to prevent leaking. This will also allow them to work easier.
  7. Tape all sidestays, cotterpins, and pulley pins. Why? So they do not come out and so they do not rip your sail.
  8. Check all pins on the spar. Check all screws and bolts throughout the boat. This is very important so that you don't have a costly breakdown.

These steps should be done at least four times a summer and repeated before an important regatta.

How should you repair your MC? Every boat will have a few little dings and scratches. If you do not, you are not racing your boat hard enough (!). How do you get the dings out?

  1. Classify your problem. Is it an aluminum scratch from sidestays or some type of other scratch? If so, first try to take it out with acetone and a paper towel. If this does not work, wet the area and wet a piece of 600 grit wet sandpaper and lightly take the scratch out. Finally, take rubbing compound and rub out the dullness.
  2. If you have damage from hitting a pier or another competitor, you may have gel-coat damage. Gel-coat is the outside skin of the boat. This can break apart if hit hard enough. What you will see are flakes like "egg shells". Then you will see the actual fiberglass. You should repair this. This is also easy to do given the right materials.

Materials needed:

The gel-coat and hardener can be bought from the boat builder. (When buying a new boat, get a bottle of each color on your boat for future repairs that match your colors. Ed.)

  1. Peel away all "egg shells" from the area.
  2. Clean the area with acetone and allow 10 minutes for it to evaporate.
  3. Mix gel-coat and hardener and apply to the damaged area with a toothpick. Allow to dry overnight.
  4. File down the excess gel-coat so the area is smooth and fair with the boat. Then use 400 grit sandpaper followed by 600 grit sandpaper. Now your area should be smooth and ready to be cleaned.
  5. Clean with acetone.
  6. Hand buff with rubbing compound.

For bigger areas or more severe damage you should definitely arrange to have your builder repair your MC. Call them to make an appointment.

Follow these simple steps so your MC is fast and ready to go for the summer of 1992.

[Return to MC Home Page] [MC Reference Articles]