Lost our Mast Hunter 260

Nov 8, 2010
11,386
Beneteau First 36.7 & 260 Minneapolis MN & Bayfield WI
We believe, or the insurance company believes, that the starboard strut was partially to blame for the mast to fall. the other issue was that, I did not know, that we were in the process of replacing one of the shrouds and were waiting for receipt of parts and the return of the rigger from vacation when the storm came through. The insurance company, so far has been very receptive, since we have documentation of order, and emails to and from the rigger. Our boat is moored right next to the channel and there is a lot of current in the area. Other sailboats that were unprotected also suffered some kind of damage. hopefully now Wednesday will be D Day for the insurance to let us know how much they will cover. Keep you posted
That picture shows a piece of SS threaded rod stock tack-welded to a chainplate. Someone please tell me that is not that way the boat comes from the factory.
 
Nov 30, 2015
1,337
Hunter 1978 H30 Cherubini, Treman Marina, Ithaca, NY
Sure doesn't look original to me. I cleaned the pic up a bit and rotated.
Chain Plate Mount.jpg
 
Jun 8, 2004
10,063
-na -NA Anywhere USA
That was a top for one of the struts that came off. The strut primary purpose is to stabilize the mast in raising and lowering. @rosypar1 this had nothing to do with the failure.
If having difficulty with insurance company, I will be glad to intercede as I have for several over the years. Ask Kermit.
Feel free to contact me snytime
 
Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
By the way if I sound not too informed, is because I am new to this
There is only one way to gain experience & you are in the middle of it.
I'm sorry to see that you are getting such a crash course all at once.

While you are in experience gaining mode, I'll offer a little tidbit of information that you may not have gotten yet. The amount of rust stains in that last picture suggest to me that your stainless may not have been passivated recently. Periodically polishing with a passivating paste, like Wichinox, will help to keep your stainless more rust free & also help to keep structurally compromising crevasse-corrosion at bay. This makes your stainless parts last much longer in a salt water environment. Often, properly passivated 304 will hold up better than untreated 316, even though 316 is considered to be a more corrosion resistant alloy.
 
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Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
There are two main events on Biscayne Bay during Columbus Day weekend. They are the regatta that Jack referenced & also some raft up parties over towards Stiltsville or off of Eliot Key. The Regatta is the more civilized event & is self regulating. It is also USCG sanctioned, with a permit. The raft ups used to get wildly out of control & are now heavily monitored by law enforcement, with special anchorage restrictions, speed limits, etc. for the weekend. The last time I did CDR, about 10% of the racers also went over to the raft ups at night. They generally didn't finish well in the following day's races. If you want to get a flavor for what the raft ups were like in the old days, you can poke around You Tube a little. Some of the cleaner video clips may still be up.

The regatta that Jack referenced is the event that I was recommending. It is probably too late to register a new boat now, but you can probably get on a current boat as crew if you hang around the bar at CGSC & let it be known that you are looking for a seat.

I find it amusing that the event that is principally sponsored by a major rum producer, is the more well behaved of the two events.
 
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Aug 22, 2017
1,609
Hunter 26.5 West Palm Beach
Not only are we missing the CDR but the Harvest Moon Also
Ouch, you need to work on that.

Are you missing them because the boat is down? or because you don't have the time available?
 
Apr 23, 2018
21
Hunter 260 Miami
Dave.....got our settlement from the Insurance Company. Outside of the deductible, they did ok by us. We found an excellent honest rigger here in Miami, and he was very well known by our adjuster so things went well. Ordered a new mast, and my husband just ordered the two new struts from sailboat owners. Hopefully we can get everything done by mid December. Mast takes about 5 to 6 weeks. Took advantage and had the bottom painted and the boat should be a beauty when its over. will keep you posted and thank all of you for your help.