Bang goes the upper shrouds

[Anthony Pogson]

I went for a sail today in perfect weather – wind was an easy 10 to 15 knots, no sea nor swell, other than the powerboat wake from the usual Wally.A bit of a puff came though, and the mainsheet release was a little too slow. BANG! The upper shroud broke and the mast gained a rather ugle kink at the spreaders. After dropping sails as fast as possible, we nursed Bounty Hunter back to the yacht club where we de-rigged without further damage.On inspection the rigging wire parted/broke at the swage terminal just above the spreader – it could have been wear-and-tear. I did notice when I raised the mast that the tension on the aft stay seemed somewhat hard. That said, fitting the pin for the forestay didn’t seem unusually difficult to fit. I was lucky (ha!) that the mast did not snap all together hence no damage to the sails nor crew. But I am sure I will be up for a new mast and rigging.I have only had the yacht a short while but I have always thought the rigging was somewhat light for the size of the mast. I will probable up-spec the rigging when I replace.Any other similar experiences? Or advice to avoid a repeat?

 

[George]

H260 rigging

This is a first for me. I don't believe I've ever heard of a failure of the H260 shroud at the swage. Usually what happens is the "T" bolt slips out of the slot. What year is your boat?Sometimes discussing rigging can be confusing. What "upper" shroud are you talking about? Was it V1 or D2? Did you tune your rig according to the specifications or did you just retain the settings set by the Previous owner? Since the shroud failed at the swage I'd question the P.O. to see if he had this repaired previously. The specs call for tension no more than 20% of breaking strength, so installing a heavier cable is probably unnecessary.If the mast is bent this will be an expensive repair. Glad no other damage occured. More on the H260 rigging at this link:http://kobernus.com/hunter260/rigging/rigging.html

 

[Mark]

New mast

Hi Anthony if indeed you need a new mast I have a spare brand new mast for the 260.. Call me if you wish.