I have always been concerned that the failure of the forestay, the one single forward wire supporting my mast and sails, would be a major disaster on my boat. With my port and starboard shrouds, I have some redundancy, as there are two shrouds each supporting the sides of the mast. But the front of the mast is supported by only one wire. I should also mention that I use roller furling on my jib so that I cannot just add an additional wire. Does anyone have any thoughts or ideas on how to add an additional layer of safety, or redundancy, to this forestay? Has anyones forestay ever failed? Is there a specific period of time when we should be changing our standing rigging, especially rigging as critical as the forestay on a H260? Thanks, Bob Fliegel
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Phil Ward
Forestay Failure
Bob: Three or four years ago we experienced a forestay failure on our 2002 Hunter 260. It took some time to figure out what had actually caused the failure. We were sailing on a broad reach with 15 to 18 knot winds. The portion of the forestay (I'm sure it has a name) that connects it to the mast "popped" out. Not thinking, I turned the boat into the wind and down came the mast. If I had continued downwind we could have used the Jib Halyard to connect to the bowsprit and avoided the "demasting". No one was injured and it cost us $100 for a new forestay. There was not other damage to the boat. I finally figured out after several months that we had routinely overtighten the forestay whenever we set up at a different lake. This apparently resulted in bending the end of the forstay at the mast, which allowed it to "pop" out. I was just doing what the dealer (no longer in the business)instructed us when commissioning the boat to us. I not longer tighten it like I was instructed and we have not had a repeat failure.
Bob: Three or four years ago we experienced a forestay failure on our 2002 Hunter 260. It took some time to figure out what had actually caused the failure. We were sailing on a broad reach with 15 to 18 knot winds. The portion of the forestay (I'm sure it has a name) that connects it to the mast "popped" out. Not thinking, I turned the boat into the wind and down came the mast. If I had continued downwind we could have used the Jib Halyard to connect to the bowsprit and avoided the "demasting". No one was injured and it cost us $100 for a new forestay. There was not other damage to the boat. I finally figured out after several months that we had routinely overtighten the forestay whenever we set up at a different lake. This apparently resulted in bending the end of the forstay at the mast, which allowed it to "pop" out. I was just doing what the dealer (no longer in the business)instructed us when commissioning the boat to us. I not longer tighten it like I was instructed and we have not had a repeat failure.
Overtightened?
I find it very difficult to believe that you could overtighten the forestay and deform the T-ball end with everything installed correctly. The solid metal in that fitting is much, much stronger than the wire or the swaging, possibly even the hull. Racers have been known to flex their boats pulling the forestay and backstay so hard. I'm not saying this to prove you wrong - just that you should see the attached link, where another 260 lost their forestay from a bent T-bolt. Misalignment during mast raising is difficult to avoid, with the weight of the furler.
I find it very difficult to believe that you could overtighten the forestay and deform the T-ball end with everything installed correctly. The solid metal in that fitting is much, much stronger than the wire or the swaging, possibly even the hull. Racers have been known to flex their boats pulling the forestay and backstay so hard. I'm not saying this to prove you wrong - just that you should see the attached link, where another 260 lost their forestay from a bent T-bolt. Misalignment during mast raising is difficult to avoid, with the weight of the furler.
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Jack h23.5
You can try using your spinnaker halyard...
On my 23.5 I have a spinnaker halyard mounted above the stay tangs. When I'm not using the spinnaker, I secure the spinnaker halyard to the forward bow pulpit. Its strong enough to hold the mast up in an emergency. When I use the spinnaker, I'm going downwind and there is less stress on the head stay. Just something I've always done.
On my 23.5 I have a spinnaker halyard mounted above the stay tangs. When I'm not using the spinnaker, I secure the spinnaker halyard to the forward bow pulpit. Its strong enough to hold the mast up in an emergency. When I use the spinnaker, I'm going downwind and there is less stress on the head stay. Just something I've always done.
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George
H260 Forestay
Yes, keeping the toggle bolt straight during raising operations can be a challenge and I've experienced a failure. But I know of at least two other cases where the forestay came unscrewed at the furler drum. I recently modified my mast with eye clips to make sure the forestay and shrouds stay straight during the raising operation. Works great. Go to: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/headstay/headstay.html Losing a forestay on almost any other boat will require total loss of the mast and rigging. In the H260 cases I know about, the only repairs were replacement of the forestay and we were back in business. The struts work as designed. The "T" bolt setup is fairly common on trailerables, but I could see in a case where severe "pumping" of the mast could dislodge the forestay. That's why it's important to also use the plugs to keep the forestay "T"bolt from slipping out.
Yes, keeping the toggle bolt straight during raising operations can be a challenge and I've experienced a failure. But I know of at least two other cases where the forestay came unscrewed at the furler drum. I recently modified my mast with eye clips to make sure the forestay and shrouds stay straight during the raising operation. Works great. Go to: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/headstay/headstay.html Losing a forestay on almost any other boat will require total loss of the mast and rigging. In the H260 cases I know about, the only repairs were replacement of the forestay and we were back in business. The struts work as designed. The "T" bolt setup is fairly common on trailerables, but I could see in a case where severe "pumping" of the mast could dislodge the forestay. That's why it's important to also use the plugs to keep the forestay "T"bolt from slipping out.
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George
H260 Forestay
Michael I think you are on to something here but I'd like something that could be removed fairly easily if necessary. The problem with rivets is they have to be drilled out to remove. I'll keep thinking about it.
Michael I think you are on to something here but I'd like something that could be removed fairly easily if necessary. The problem with rivets is they have to be drilled out to remove. I'll keep thinking about it.
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George
More on H260 Forestay
Phil: I agree with Brian. I'm guessing that you experienced the same thing I did - a misaligned "T" bolt. How did you "loosen" the tension on the forestay? If you lengthen the forestay you'll just loosen the side stay tensions and create other problems. The best way to verify tension on the forestay is to put a loose gage on the side stays. I keep RD1 at about 25 and the others at about 35 on the PT-1 Loose Gage. See this link: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/rigging/rigging.html
Phil: I agree with Brian. I'm guessing that you experienced the same thing I did - a misaligned "T" bolt. How did you "loosen" the tension on the forestay? If you lengthen the forestay you'll just loosen the side stay tensions and create other problems. The best way to verify tension on the forestay is to put a loose gage on the side stays. I keep RD1 at about 25 and the others at about 35 on the PT-1 Loose Gage. See this link: http://kobernus.com/hunter260/rigging/rigging.html
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