July Fourth, my wife, middle daughter and I were sailing Water Lily, our 2002 H260 in winds a little less than 15 knots. We were traveling at hull speed on a broadreach with the wind coming over the port side of the stern, when the jib stay separated from the mast. My wife left the cockpit to retrieve the furler/jib from the water. Not thinking clearly, I had my daughter, who was at the helm, turn toward the wind and the mast came down over the top of the cockpit. There was enough wind in the sail that the mast dropped slowly with no apparent damage to the boat other than whatever failed in the mast and a slightly bent mast pin. The boom and mainsail was laid out to the starboard side of the boat flapping in the wind. The sails appeared to survive rather well. My daughter slightly bruised her hand, and I must have been hit on the shoulder, because I have a linear bruise consistent with the width of the steel cable on the shroud. We carefully motored to the dock and with the help of a Conservation Officer, with docked, trailered the boat, then used a gin pole to raise the mast to disconnect the boom and remove the mainsail. We retrieved the mast crutch, lowered the mast and placed the boat in our drydock space. If I had been thinking clearly, I would have moved the jib halyard to the bowsprit from its position to the side of the mast while the wind was still in the mainsail (which was apparently holding the mast up after the failure). Then we could have turned the boat into the wind to lower the mainsail. We could have motored to the dock, trailered the boat and lowered the mast with the mast raising system. By the way, the one place you do not want to be when the mast comes down is in the sternrail seats. The ends of the spreaders stopped about six inched above the seats. I welcome questions, comments, etc.
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What broke?
Did it come unscrewed, or was it a fitting or wire failure? For a stay to fail in 1 year is pretty scary.
Did it come unscrewed, or was it a fitting or wire failure? For a stay to fail in 1 year is pretty scary.
We are not completely sure
what failed. The stay did not break. In fact, it appears the the stay is intact. The top of the stay has a solid steel piece that flares and connects to a steel insert in the mast, which has a steel cover. I am taking the boat to the dealer sometime this week to evaluate the failure. I certainly don't want to see this happen again, it wasn't fun. I will keep you posted
what failed. The stay did not break. In fact, it appears the the stay is intact. The top of the stay has a solid steel piece that flares and connects to a steel insert in the mast, which has a steel cover. I am taking the boat to the dealer sometime this week to evaluate the failure. I certainly don't want to see this happen again, it wasn't fun. I will keep you posted
Phil
I thank God that no one was hurt. There is no question that this is serious. I just got off the line to Hunter and they are now aware of this incident. YOu advised taking the boat back to the dealer immediately. That is good. Also, contact your insurance carrier and notify them of the claim./ Now to the real question, what caused this to happen. You will need to look at many items but will you do me a big favor. I am going to ask those of you who know me to send my email address to Phil. Please do not post it on the forum. Phil, what I would like for you to do is send me pictures as soon as possible. I need for you to zero in on the top of the forestay specifically the wire where it goes into the stud. Also, take a photo of the mast where the forestay attaches with a good close up. Take a picture of the shroud turnbuckles and if you can of the turnbuckle within the furling drum. I would like to figure out what happenned and with those pictures, maybe we can. The question will also be asked if this happenned near shore or a bridge. We are just making sure no overhead obstructions were hit which I do not believe is the case here. Please keep me advised. IF you can send me the photos, include your phone number. Hunter Marine is very concerned too. Crazy Dave Condon
I thank God that no one was hurt. There is no question that this is serious. I just got off the line to Hunter and they are now aware of this incident. YOu advised taking the boat back to the dealer immediately. That is good. Also, contact your insurance carrier and notify them of the claim./ Now to the real question, what caused this to happen. You will need to look at many items but will you do me a big favor. I am going to ask those of you who know me to send my email address to Phil. Please do not post it on the forum. Phil, what I would like for you to do is send me pictures as soon as possible. I need for you to zero in on the top of the forestay specifically the wire where it goes into the stud. Also, take a photo of the mast where the forestay attaches with a good close up. Take a picture of the shroud turnbuckles and if you can of the turnbuckle within the furling drum. I would like to figure out what happenned and with those pictures, maybe we can. The question will also be asked if this happenned near shore or a bridge. We are just making sure no overhead obstructions were hit which I do not believe is the case here. Please keep me advised. IF you can send me the photos, include your phone number. Hunter Marine is very concerned too. Crazy Dave Condon
watched it fall!
Hi Phil, Glad to hear that no one was seriously hurt. My name is Rick Graef. I was out on my 1997 Hunter 26 and saw your demasting. I was on the Hunter that came by the docked as you were preparing to get the boat on to the trailer. I can assure Dave and all that you certainly did not run into any low clearance problems. I do have a few questions; do you have a roller furler, and if so, which one? How tight,loose was your turnbuckle on the forestay? Any damage to the forestay attachment hole on the mast? Rick Graef S/V Sandpiper
Hi Phil, Glad to hear that no one was seriously hurt. My name is Rick Graef. I was out on my 1997 Hunter 26 and saw your demasting. I was on the Hunter that came by the docked as you were preparing to get the boat on to the trailer. I can assure Dave and all that you certainly did not run into any low clearance problems. I do have a few questions; do you have a roller furler, and if so, which one? How tight,loose was your turnbuckle on the forestay? Any damage to the forestay attachment hole on the mast? Rick Graef S/V Sandpiper
Other Mast problems
Hello All and Crazy Dave especially. I'm in the dry dock with Phil on Eagle Creek reservoir (98 H240). I don't know if any of you remember but Phil also had problems with the Main Halyard sheave this spring (check archives for details). The sheave at the mast exit was not installed at the factory and he had to install a replacement himself and also a new main halyard. Hi Richard glad to see another Eagle Creek Hunter owner on the site. Are you at Rick's or the Sailing Club? Ken
Hello All and Crazy Dave especially. I'm in the dry dock with Phil on Eagle Creek reservoir (98 H240). I don't know if any of you remember but Phil also had problems with the Main Halyard sheave this spring (check archives for details). The sheave at the mast exit was not installed at the factory and he had to install a replacement himself and also a new main halyard. Hi Richard glad to see another Eagle Creek Hunter owner on the site. Are you at Rick's or the Sailing Club? Ken
Sheave Installation This Spring
Ken: It was the Jib Sheave that was missing, with replacement of the Jib Halyard. It wore through to the core after raising and lowering the mast only 5 to 10 times due to the missing sheave. I am going to take some digital images of the items mentioned by Crazy Dave and will attempt to post them on this web site. We have not touched the turnbuckles on the shrouds since delivery of the boat in October 2001. We were instructed on how to adjust the furler turnbuckle by our dealer when the boat was commissioned. We loosen the turnbuckle prior to lowering the mast and tighten it to the original position (set by the dealer) after raising the mast. Richard: I can't seem to remember the brand of the furler at the moment, I will get back to you on that.
Ken: It was the Jib Sheave that was missing, with replacement of the Jib Halyard. It wore through to the core after raising and lowering the mast only 5 to 10 times due to the missing sheave. I am going to take some digital images of the items mentioned by Crazy Dave and will attempt to post them on this web site. We have not touched the turnbuckles on the shrouds since delivery of the boat in October 2001. We were instructed on how to adjust the furler turnbuckle by our dealer when the boat was commissioned. We loosen the turnbuckle prior to lowering the mast and tighten it to the original position (set by the dealer) after raising the mast. Richard: I can't seem to remember the brand of the furler at the moment, I will get back to you on that.
Phil
Have you contacted your insurance carrier? Please post your email so I can email you direct. There are alot of questions to be asked as I am wondering what happenned. Jim Seamons reminded of something I did once and that was a line caught the cotter pin which came out during a race with 15-20 knots of wind and the starboard upper shroud came undone as the clevis pin came out. I am grasping at straws as I would like to get to the bottom of this. Please advise your email. I would like to see the photos first before posting. I would like to figure out what caused that first and then advise the forum as there will probably be alot of threads on this. Please guys keep this short until we can figure this one out and I will let you know what I find. Ok Thanks to Richard regarding no overhead obstruction as that was a question that had to be asked. Crazy Dave Condon
Have you contacted your insurance carrier? Please post your email so I can email you direct. There are alot of questions to be asked as I am wondering what happenned. Jim Seamons reminded of something I did once and that was a line caught the cotter pin which came out during a race with 15-20 knots of wind and the starboard upper shroud came undone as the clevis pin came out. I am grasping at straws as I would like to get to the bottom of this. Please advise your email. I would like to see the photos first before posting. I would like to figure out what caused that first and then advise the forum as there will probably be alot of threads on this. Please guys keep this short until we can figure this one out and I will let you know what I find. Ok Thanks to Richard regarding no overhead obstruction as that was a question that had to be asked. Crazy Dave Condon
Similar Dismasting
I too suffered a dismasting on my '94 26. The cause ended up being the turnbuckle inside the drum on the furling jib. Either there was no cotter pin through the threaded shaft, or it worked its way loose. Either way, the turnbuckle eventually worked open, the drum hit the foredeck, and down came the mast. This happened as I was coming into the pullout basin, had dropped the main, and had just furled the jib. Likely the spinning action of furling twisted the turnbuckle off the last thread. I had left the mast crutch on the boat, which saved the bimini, pushpit, and probably me as well. But it snapped the mast at the spreaders, as well as cracking the gooseneck on the boom. It was a CDI furler, no knock against CDI, just an FYI. I'm glad no one was injured, boats and parts can be replaced, people can't. T J
I too suffered a dismasting on my '94 26. The cause ended up being the turnbuckle inside the drum on the furling jib. Either there was no cotter pin through the threaded shaft, or it worked its way loose. Either way, the turnbuckle eventually worked open, the drum hit the foredeck, and down came the mast. This happened as I was coming into the pullout basin, had dropped the main, and had just furled the jib. Likely the spinning action of furling twisted the turnbuckle off the last thread. I had left the mast crutch on the boat, which saved the bimini, pushpit, and probably me as well. But it snapped the mast at the spreaders, as well as cracking the gooseneck on the boom. It was a CDI furler, no knock against CDI, just an FYI. I'm glad no one was injured, boats and parts can be replaced, people can't. T J
Same problem on port mid shroud.
The weekend before the forth while anchored near shore on our reservoir, my port side lower shroud suddenly gave a loud bang and fell to the deck. Luckly no sails were up, no one was on deck and the mast stayed up. After we motored back to the dock and trailered the boat I inspected the shroud end, a "T" fitting, and the mast recepticle, which were both in good condition (see photo). What was broke was the plastic keeper that swings accross the hole to keep the shroud tang in the hole while raising the mast. What had happen was the "T" fitting had turned sideways while raising the mast and one arm of the "T" was held in the hole by the plastic cover. When the cover finally broke the tang worked its way out until it pulled loose with a bang. The forestay hooks into the mast the same way as the shrouds. I've replaced the plastic cover and will carefully inspect all the shroud and forestay tangs to be sure they are properly seated when raising the mast. Look at the plastic cover on your forestay to see if it is damaged. I can't say the same thing happened to you but it sounds very much the same. Brigg
The weekend before the forth while anchored near shore on our reservoir, my port side lower shroud suddenly gave a loud bang and fell to the deck. Luckly no sails were up, no one was on deck and the mast stayed up. After we motored back to the dock and trailered the boat I inspected the shroud end, a "T" fitting, and the mast recepticle, which were both in good condition (see photo). What was broke was the plastic keeper that swings accross the hole to keep the shroud tang in the hole while raising the mast. What had happen was the "T" fitting had turned sideways while raising the mast and one arm of the "T" was held in the hole by the plastic cover. When the cover finally broke the tang worked its way out until it pulled loose with a bang. The forestay hooks into the mast the same way as the shrouds. I've replaced the plastic cover and will carefully inspect all the shroud and forestay tangs to be sure they are properly seated when raising the mast. Look at the plastic cover on your forestay to see if it is damaged. I can't say the same thing happened to you but it sounds very much the same. Brigg
Attachments
Rick,
I'll be sure to wave and say hi the next time I see your boat out there. We're on the Orion. (Name is only on the stern)
I'll be sure to wave and say hi the next time I see your boat out there. We're on the Orion. (Name is only on the stern)
Work, Work, Work
Dave: Work has kept me from getting over to the dry dock to get the pictures. They will come soon. I have contacted my insurance agent regarding the incident. We just need to get the boat over to the dealer for assessment and repairs. My email address is Wdphil@aol.com. Our furler is also a CDI. I always tape the cotter rings after adjustment, so hopefully they won't come off.
Dave: Work has kept me from getting over to the dry dock to get the pictures. They will come soon. I have contacted my insurance agent regarding the incident. We just need to get the boat over to the dealer for assessment and repairs. My email address is Wdphil@aol.com. Our furler is also a CDI. I always tape the cotter rings after adjustment, so hopefully they won't come off.
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