Rob & I went out tonight. Westerly blowing about 15 knts. Racing going on (not us though). Beautiful - way over 80*. So we got everything up, gorgeous broad reach up river and TWANG! Rob says "What was that?" as I realize we've lost a shroud!! I bear off - fast - & Rob leaps forward with the speed of a cheetah, pulls both sails down almost simultaneously and faster than I could blink, hooked the jib halyard up to the base of a stanchion. I winched it in good & tight, started up the engine & we were safe. That fast! Phwew! We both envisioned the rig crumpling in the middle of racing. So it ended up being the forward lower and the thru-deck fitting was so badly corroded that it just couldn't take the load anymore & popped. The turnbuckle, shroud & everything is just fine. Only the thru-deck bolt is busted. That's not so bad cuz Catalina has an upgrade that I should have done a million years ago for the darn things but "never got around to it." Ironically, I was just checking the chainplates this weekend, thinking I really needed to make sure they were not a disaster waiting to happen. Lesson learned: If you think something needs to be maintained, maintain it! LaDonna