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| problem? crack in front beam at dolphin striker http://www.hobie.com/au/en/forums/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=67312 |
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| Author: | essoud [ Tue Sep 01, 2020 3:48 am ] |
| Post subject: | problem? crack in front beam at dolphin striker |
hello I'm planning to buy a Hobie Cat 16 from 1988, in great overall condition except i just found this crack on the front beam right under the mast where the dolphin striker enters the beam. How big of a problem is it? Dangerous? Would you still risk sailing like this? How can i fix it?  Hope someone can help! |
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| Author: | gford [ Wed Sep 02, 2020 6:41 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: problem? crack in front beam at dolphin striker |
Good eye for spotting this. If you do nothing it will continue to crack until failure and the mast would come down at the worst possible time. There is a YouTube of this happening at speed. Not a pretty sight. This should be fixable on the boat. Otherwise, taking the front crossbar off is a big deal. You end up disassembling the whole boat to accomplish this. First, I would drill a small hole, about 1/8" at the front of the crack to stop it from getting any longer. Then find someone who can weld aluminum to seal it back up to the hole for the dolphin striker pole. They would also seal the 1/8" hole you made. OR You look for another cat. I looked at about ten boats before finding the one to purchase. They are out there. Good luck. Greg 1984 H16 |
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| Author: | srm [ Wed Sep 02, 2020 1:21 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: problem? crack in front beam at dolphin striker |
I wouldn’t sail it like that. It could potentially be fixed by welding, but you need someone who knows what they’re doing to properly weld aluminum and the problem is that in doing so, you eliminate the heat treatment which weakens the metal. A better path would be to replace the crossbar. Occassionally you can find complete crossbar assemblies for sale on craigslist relatively inexpensively. Problem is, the holes in the pylons/castings/crossbars don’t always line up which creates a new set of issues. I would say if you want the boat, try to use this as a bargaining point to lower the price but also expect to do some work to make the boat safe to sail. I also question whether or not this is actually a 1988 boat. Most, if not all, of the boats from that era had black anodized aluminum. Double check the serial number on the transom. This boat may be several years older than advertised. sm |
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| Author: | essoud [ Tue Sep 08, 2020 3:04 am ] |
| Post subject: | Re: problem? crack in front beam at dolphin striker |
thank you for these helpful answers! we bought the cat, the previous owner is going to give us a new frontbeam and help us replace it he even thought it would still be safe to sail like this because the weight and stress is mostly put on the dolphin striker and not on the beam |
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