scoutabout
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2006
- Messages
- 1,568
Hey folks - I'm dealing with a broken fitting on my 12 foot aluminum sail boat. The part pictured below serves three purposes. The front piece of it that's obviously broken snapped when I was winching the boat out of the water. (I posted about this event during the summer with a warning and reminder to keep your face out of the line of fire when winching. Almost got a free teeth flossing courtesy of the whiplashing cable when this part suddenly let go.
The middle oval attach point is where the forestay attaches that holds the mast upright. The rearmost point is where the sail is fastened.
While the broken tow point is a hassle, it's not critical to using the boat. I was thinking of installing a proper bow eye in the usual place for winching anyway then grinding down the broken edges.
The big problem is the forestay attachment is showing signs of hairline cracking. You can just see the crack in the pic. I noticed this weekend when putting the boat up for the winter. I think the part is some kind of cast and I guess 40-odd years of anchoring a mast under high stress is starting to show. There's certainly no way I can use the boat now with the threat of sudden failure a possibility.
Do any of you have suggestions on how I might either fix or design something that would fit the bill here? The boat is long out of production so acquiring another factory part is probably not an option. It will be a shame to lose the originality but at this point I just want something strong.
Ideas welcome!
The middle oval attach point is where the forestay attaches that holds the mast upright. The rearmost point is where the sail is fastened.
While the broken tow point is a hassle, it's not critical to using the boat. I was thinking of installing a proper bow eye in the usual place for winching anyway then grinding down the broken edges.
The big problem is the forestay attachment is showing signs of hairline cracking. You can just see the crack in the pic. I noticed this weekend when putting the boat up for the winter. I think the part is some kind of cast and I guess 40-odd years of anchoring a mast under high stress is starting to show. There's certainly no way I can use the boat now with the threat of sudden failure a possibility.
Do any of you have suggestions on how I might either fix or design something that would fit the bill here? The boat is long out of production so acquiring another factory part is probably not an option. It will be a shame to lose the originality but at this point I just want something strong.
Ideas welcome!
