A few summers ago, when our son was sailing our 1976 o'day II 17' sailboat with 4 others aboard and hiking out in heavy lake gusts, the shroud plate pulled away from the deck, taking with it a chunk of the deck and deckrim fiberglass. No one was injured. I am sure that the overweightedness was a factor. We had the section repaired and reinforced with rip rap (sp?) and have successfully sailed it since then. My question: does fiberglass have a lifespan and. if so, what is it? Also, why did o'day design the shroud plate to be secured to what is, really, a rather thin section of the deck rim? Thank you.