To all Hunter 49 owners
Selden has posted a tiny notice on their web site under the "news" section
Digging further, It states that there are defective welds in the fitting that attach the forestay to the mast, and dismastings of owners of this series of masts have been affected. To my knowlege, this has only occurred on Bavaria 46's, but the H49 is listed by Selden as one of the affected boats.
They further state that this occurs if you use your genoa without your main sail.
In contacting Selden, they have stated that they will only supply the replacement part, and all costs of mast repair are the responsibility of the owner.
They suggest it isn't difficult to replace, and are simply sending out some very inadequate written instructions with a new stainless fitting.
FYI, this repair includes:
Disconnecting the forestay from the masthead
Removing the genoa halyard exit box
Somehow fishing the old part out though this exit box, and installing the new one.
And this is while you are hanging 60 feet up in the air on a bosun's chair, with an unsupported deck stepped mast.
I have spoken to 2 professional riggers who have declined the job as way too dangerous.
This leaves pulling the spar.
While Selden freely admits that the welds are defective, they refuse to accept the very modest costs of repairing these rigs, and preventing further dismastings .
Their obvious position is that owners won't waste their time as individuals suing Selden for the $1000 in repair costs. Furthermore, it was grossly negligent of them to simply putting a tiny "news", article on their web site, rather than going to the boat builders and tracking down the owners of boats with potential dismasting issues.
I strongly urge all affected Hunter 49 owners to take a vigilant stance with Selden on this. It is not Hunter's liability, as they supplied a very expensive spar in good fair to their customers.
I am interested in hearing from knowledgable boat owners out there as to our avenue of legal recourse against Selden. They have shown blatant disregard for their customers' safety by taking no constructive steps to mitigate theses damages, and are further suggesting a repair procedure which could lead to grave personal injury.
I can assure you, based on all my prior dealings with Hunter..if they did something which was their responsibility, they'd stand behind it.
Selden has posted a tiny notice on their web site under the "news" section
Digging further, It states that there are defective welds in the fitting that attach the forestay to the mast, and dismastings of owners of this series of masts have been affected. To my knowlege, this has only occurred on Bavaria 46's, but the H49 is listed by Selden as one of the affected boats.
They further state that this occurs if you use your genoa without your main sail.
In contacting Selden, they have stated that they will only supply the replacement part, and all costs of mast repair are the responsibility of the owner.
They suggest it isn't difficult to replace, and are simply sending out some very inadequate written instructions with a new stainless fitting.
FYI, this repair includes:
Disconnecting the forestay from the masthead
Removing the genoa halyard exit box
Somehow fishing the old part out though this exit box, and installing the new one.
And this is while you are hanging 60 feet up in the air on a bosun's chair, with an unsupported deck stepped mast.
I have spoken to 2 professional riggers who have declined the job as way too dangerous.
This leaves pulling the spar.
While Selden freely admits that the welds are defective, they refuse to accept the very modest costs of repairing these rigs, and preventing further dismastings .
Their obvious position is that owners won't waste their time as individuals suing Selden for the $1000 in repair costs. Furthermore, it was grossly negligent of them to simply putting a tiny "news", article on their web site, rather than going to the boat builders and tracking down the owners of boats with potential dismasting issues.
I strongly urge all affected Hunter 49 owners to take a vigilant stance with Selden on this. It is not Hunter's liability, as they supplied a very expensive spar in good fair to their customers.
I am interested in hearing from knowledgable boat owners out there as to our avenue of legal recourse against Selden. They have shown blatant disregard for their customers' safety by taking no constructive steps to mitigate theses damages, and are further suggesting a repair procedure which could lead to grave personal injury.
I can assure you, based on all my prior dealings with Hunter..if they did something which was their responsibility, they'd stand behind it.
