Over the winter we bought a 1983 Catalina 27. The boat was surveyed and determined to be sound. The third time out this spring, in light air with little back stay tension, we heard this breaking sound followed by the stem head fitting (where the head stay attaches to the deck) ripping right out taking a portion of the deck with it. The fitting we had on our boat only had a short (about 2 inches) tang running down the stem. We had the surveyor look at the boat and he looked at similar boats in the marina. He saw evidence of initial cracking on other boats at that single bolt on the stem of the boat (I have noticed that in some cases this is covered by the rub rail). There was no sign of rotted wood and we are convinced that this was simply a structural failure. We have since procured the newer design of stem head fitting with a long tang that runs down the stem of the boat and bolts in three places. The repair is not too bad, but it would have been easier before this happened, if we had known to check. Now you know.