broken sail slide

[curious1]

I own a 1997 Hunter 260 and a sail slide at the top of the
sail is broken - does anyone know how I get the shackle
open so that I can replace the slide on the mainsail.
It is a Doyle sail and the slide and shackle are both plastic.
It looks like it should just unsnap but doesn't budge when I
try. Anyone else had a problem like this?

 

[peptobysmol]

I don't know if they can... good question. I'd probably just cut it off. Simple solution IF you have a replacement. I wonder if unsnaping a snap shackle would alter its integrity. Hmmm. Otherwise, if you had a pair of needle nose pliers, shove those babies in there and see if wedging it in doesn't dislodge the snap when you try to open the pliers.
Disclaimer: I got my engineering degree from BP Polytechnic.

 

[WTA]

I had the same thing happen on our 1998 H240. I could not get the shackles to unsnap, so I just broke the old ones off replaced shackles and slides. After two broke, I went ahead and replaced all of them as I figured the rest couldn't be far behind. Besides they are sold in packages of 10 anyway. I went with the slides and shackles from this sites chandlery. The new shackles have a SS screw that holds them on, so you can take them off again if need be.

Fair Winds,

WTA

 

[curious1]

I had the same thing happen on our 1998 H240. I could not get the shackles to unsnap, so I just broke the old ones off replaced shackles and slides. After two broke, I went ahead and replaced all of them as I figured the rest couldn't be far behind. Besides they are sold in packages of 10 anyway. I went with the slides and shackles from this sites chandlery. The new shackles have a SS screw that holds them on, so you can take them off again if need be.

Fair Winds,

WTA

Thanks for your reply

My next move was to just break it off and replace it - replacing all of them is a very good idea

 

[curious1]

I don't know if they can... good question. I'd probably just cut it off. Simple solution IF you have a replacement. I wonder if unsnaping a snap shackle would alter its integrity. Hmmm. Otherwise, if you had a pair of needle nose pliers, shove those babies in there and see if wedging it in doesn't dislodge the snap when you try to open the pliers.
Disclaimer: I got my engineering degree from BP Polytechnic.

Good point with what I would have to go through to unsnap it would definitely alter its integrity

 

[cephius (Dave)]

They do open. I used a needle nose pliers and vice grips to unhook and slide the locking post. Once you get the process down, it works every time. The posts snap in very snug, so they do reuse well.

I use the type of vice grip that also has long narrow jaws. I originally brought them on board to keep the shroud turnbuckle sleeve up and out of the way when tuning the rig.

 

[Steve Dion]

We had the same problem on our H'31. We took it to the sail maker and had them replace it with a metal one. I would not bother to replace them all unless they are bad, but it may not be bad to replace the top two with metal ones.