Broken shroud

Hello everyone. My first post. I’ve owned a getaway for about 1 year now and probably taken it out 15 times so I’m definitely a novice. We were about 1/2 mile out off port Aransas beach with some pretty big swells, wind was 15 knots and I had 5 people on board. The cable holding up the mast snapped on the left side and the mast went over. No body hurt but pretty scary. The cable failed at the lower attachment just past the crimp point. I don’t see any corrosion, so I guess it’s just fatigue of the metal bending at the crimp. I’m replacing with 1/4” stainless cables (uncoated) and I’m adding a 3/16” synthetic shroud as well. Probably overkill but that was a dangerous situation I don’t care to repeat. Lucky for us there was a breeze blowing back to shore rather than to Cuba.
Questions I have:
Has anyone experienced anything like this? I’m really surprised, it’s the last thing I would expect to fail.
What else should I look for or replace?
Was the boat just overloaded? I could definitely feel the rudder pulling hard in the wind.
Thanks for all your help

Glad you all are OK!

I have had masts come down a few times. Once sailing off the beach in San Diego. The lee shroud can unpinned. We stuck a bungee hook in the connection and sailed on the same tack up the beach and came in through the surf, in front of the local Hobie dealer. Lifeguards were not happy, but we were able to get another pin and sail back out.

Pre sail inspection is VERY important. You may have been able to see a broken wire strand or that the connection what not in alignment and kinked.

Yes, the boat was overloaded. The more weight the more stress on the rig.

If you store the boat with the mast up?... that can cause premature wear as well. If the rig is loose, the wires experience a snapping load as the mast moves around.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I've had shrouds fail like that. Not in a hobie, though, in a larger trimaran. The most common wire failures are at the wire swage (crimp)-typically stress corrosion of stainless steel. One of the reasons I prefer dyneema or vectran shrouds in my boats and I likely would have eventually replaced the wire shrouds from hobie with dyneema had I kept the getaway. I suggest you forget the wire and just go with 1/4 inch dyneema on both sides. Can't get rid of the wire completely, though, since you need a wire forestay for the roller furler to work correctly. You will have to do something other than the current adjusters on the chainplates. Most systems will make the shrouds shorter and use a cascade of smaller diameter line to tighten the final connections to a bow shackle on the chainplate.

Check the mast ball and mast base for damage since it went over sideways.

Dismasting is never fun, but on multihulls there is typically no one hurt and it is "amazing" how slowly the mast comes down with the mainsail acting like a parachute to cushion the drop.

_________________
R/Thom
SeaRail 19
Triak
BMW C600
Formerly Getaway with Custom Spinnakers
Formerly raced F24 Mk II

I had a side shroud break on a used H17 I purchased. Supposedly had new shrouds. No corrosion, and didn't see any kinks, but broken mid length.

_________________
Yet another Bob!
"Firefly" - 2012 Hobie Getaway with wings and spinnaker
"Sparky" - 1978 Sunfish (OK, it's not a Hobie, but it's a fun little craft)
Too many canoes and kayaks

Hey Jerry,

I sail in Aransas Bay, very close to where you are. I'm on my 2nd getaway now. Its only a year old and hasn't dismasted yet. I sailed my first getaway from 2003 until 2019 and lost the mast twice. The first time, the yoke on the forestay that connects the swivel to the forestay split in half. The 2nd time, the comptip broke off. Because the transition from aluminum to comptip is about 1 foot below the mast tang, when the comptip fails, the mast comes down. I also replaced my chain plates a couple of times over the years. The getaways have two plates sandwiched together on each side which can make it difficult to see the rust/corrosion that can happen between them. When your mast is down, you can easily take out the four screws and inspect the chain plates. I replaced the forestay/shouds a couple of times (about every 5 years) and they never failed.

As for your question about overloading the boat, it is more a function of crew weight than count. I'm not sure what Hobie's official recommendation is, but I find the boat sails well with ~500 lbs of crew. You can still have good sailing with more than that, but you will probably sit lower in the water and someone will likely need to sit on the low side. Also, I believe the wing seats are rated at 400 lbs.

If your rudders are pulling hard, you should check to make sure they are fully down. Do you have the ez-lock system or older style rudders? If you are sailing in rough water and near max speed, the ez-lock rudders will slowly come up and then you will experience the hard pulling. You have to periodically push them back down.

Are you beach launching on the Gulf side of Port Aransas? If so, you need to be careful not to lock down (or let them fall down) your rudders until you are through the surf. I have seen people break their rudders going through the surf when the blades go straight down on the top of a wave and then the boat comes down hard on them when you get over the wave.

David

Thanks for the info. My boat I s a 2003 I bought used, probably the original hardware so I guess this was overdue. I ended up replacing the broken shroud with some thicker stainless cable I got from west marine so we could continue sailing during our vacation. West Marine wouldn’t crimp it for me but let me use their big crimping tool. I added some 3/16 dyneema as well for back up. I’m going to replace the forestays and shrouds with OEM cable once the parts come in. Definitely had a blast this week, first time in the gulf and launching from the beach.
How do I tell if I have easy lock rudders?

The original was two aluminum castings... the EZ Loc is a single plastic housing.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

The 2003 Getaway did not come with EZ Loc, so you wouldn't have it unless the previous owner upgraded. The older rudders have the classic cam locking system. It works pretty well if adjusted correctly and not worn out. You can find youtube videos on how to adjust your rudder cams. If they are working correctly, the rudders will almost always stay straight down (once locked) unless you hit something or catch a lot of seaweed at high speed. When the rudders are locked down, you shouldn't experience a lot of pull on the tiller. If they are not locked down, you will have to fight hard to keep from heading into the wind.

One of the rudders doesn’t go down all the way, even if I slam it hard. I’ll look into the videos

Hi Jerry, like you and David I sail in the Gulf of Mexico, but at Galveston. I'm on my second Getaway and have had several dis-mastings over the 35+ years I have been sailing off the beach (some on other cats pre-Getaway). I check the rigging carefully at the start of each season and keep an eye on it during the summer. One other thing to check is the bow tangs on the front crossbar, I have had them wear through. I have found that it takes a while to set up but is not all that hard to rig the mast sideways and sail in after a dis-masting. I keep a few ropes handy in the hull storage for that kind of thing.

More recently I have had an issue with the rudder pintles breaking. Previously, I could not keep the top pintle tight and this led to a failure of the bottom pintle due to torque/movement. That was last year and a few weeks ago the other side also broke. I have replaced the philips screws holding these with hex bolts which has tightened up the rig. I would recommend you get a set of these pintles (upper and lower) to keep in your spare parts box since they are unique to these boats. It's an easy fix if you have the parts on hand!

No question, these boats take quite a beating in the surf and when conditions are robust! We are having a great season so far! Holland.

Holland's post reminded me of a few upgrades I did to my 2003 getaway that might interest you:

1. Add bow plates for the bow tangs (Hobie part #37500021). The newer getaways come with this. They are not expensive ($5) and will go a long way in preventing failure where the bow tang bolts pull through the crossbar. You will need two plates and four rivets (part #8010181).

2. Cooler lids - when sailing in rough conditions, my coolers would almost always be full of sea water after a long sail. I upgraded to the newer cooler lids and they stayed pretty dry. The new lids are also more flush with the hull, so better for sitting/sliding across. The part # is 71710001 and you need the gaskets too (part #71707002). The lids are not cheap - about $100 each, but they greatly increased the usability of my coolers.

3. Batten pocket protectors - when you sail in a broad reach or run, your main sail will rub on the shrouds and eventually make a hole in the batten pockets. The new hobie main sails come with clear protecters just over the section of the batten pocket where the shroud rubs. I had to take my sail to a sail repair shop for other reasons and had they added patching to protect/fix where my sail was wearing. It wasn't as pretty as how hobie does it, but it was functional

4. Mast - I already mentioned about this in my previous post. I ended up replacing the mast with a classic (1980s) H16 mast after my comptip broke off. This was much more economical than buying a new comptip, and I consider it an upgrade even though the mast was 30+ years old.

5. Spinnaker - I did this for fun, but I didn't move it to my new boat and wouldn't recommend it for where we sail. We usually have too much wind for a spinnaker and you wouldn't be able to use it for sailing in a reach parallel to the beach (need to be going a little more down wind). There are many different options for doing a spinnaker with different costs, but if you buy the hobie one, it is pretty expensive.

6. Trap wires and harness - if your boat didn't come with these, I would recommend adding them. They are less valuable on a getaway than H16/H18 due to heavier hulls and wing seats, but they are still a lot of fun for the crew.

7. Wing seats - I haven't seen a getaway without them, but they are optional. If you don't have them, I would recommend them.

8. Beach wheels - these are super handy for moving the boat around on the beach and doing a beach launch.

9. EZ-lock rudders - you can add these as an upgrade option to older getaways. If you take the time and are able to get the cams working right on your rudders, then I don't think the upgrade is worth it. As I mentioned in my previous post, the EZ locks don't stay down (or up) as well as the old style rudders. But they are EZ'er because you will never end up with your cam stuck in the wrong position and unable to get your rudder blade to stay down while you are out sailing.

10. Tiller - I don't really like the tiller that comes with the getaway. It's too skinny/flimsy and the fixed length can be annoying when you are sitting on the hull and using the wing seat as a back rest (its way too long). I have an extendable hotstick that I've had since my first H16 in 1993. I don't know where to get these anymore, but I really prefer it over the one that comes with the getaway.

I hope this helps!
David

David, you really have it going on with these mods! Here are a few of mine:
1. I had a custom asymmetrical spinnaker made (got to pick the colors!). I use a spinnaker pole mounted to the mid crossbar under the mast, it runs through a hanging rope at the roller furling and is held down by a rope attached to the front crossbar. The tack sheet runs to a cam cleat mounted on the mid crossbar and the clew sheet runs to a cam cleat mounted under the rear wing seat arm. That is a bit far back, but it is much better than at the side stay and I don't like lateral forces on the side stay either. I don't use a snuffer chute, but instead just pull the sail down and stuff it into a turtle bag. As David notes, this is a light air sail and is a lot of fun on light wind days (think August below 10 knots).
2. I did not like passing the tiller behind the mainsheet while tacking, so installed a second tiller, both of which are extendable. Each tiller rests in a custom plastic cradle attached to the crossbar when not in use (on the lee side).
3. I attach square personal flotation cushions on top of the wings each side at the helm position - for my comfort and to have at the ready in case of an overboard situation. I use clips for easy removal.
4. On the beach, I use a dog tether ground stake spiral-screwed into the sand to tie the bow down at night. This keeps the wind from getting under and flipping it, which is a byproduct of being up on the beach wheels.

I get so many curious people stopping by on the beach and have given many people their first sailboat ride! That's a lot of fun and of course I always recommend that get a Hobie as a starter boat (the Wave is good for that). Hey Matt Miller I ought to be getting a commission for this! Take care and be safe everyone! Holland.

2. I did not like passing the tiller behind the mainsheet while tacking, so installed a second tiller, both of which are extendable. Each tiller rests in a custom plastic cradle attached to the crossbar when not in use (on the lee side).

I never heard of that one before. Thats nifty. I will need to consider that mod. Thanks, Steve.

Is there a recommended replacement interval for the shrouds? Or other rigging parts? I purchased my Getaway. (I think its a 2004) in 2011.

Matt, you said that if there is slack in the rigging, that can cause stress. How tight should the shrouds be? I definitely have a little slack in mine on the leeward side shroud. Should I tighten that up? If so do you recommend tightening at the forestay or the sides? How tight? Or just take up the slack?
I sail with my kids 8/10/12 so losing the mast is especially scary to me and I almost always have someone on the leeward hull/wing seat.

Thank you

MChristo: When stepping the mast, I leave slack in the port side stay which makes it easy to pin the forestay. Then I have the lovely and talented crew come over to the port side and pull down on the hiking wire while I take up the slack in the port shroud adjuster. This gets the rig pretty tight and its easier than trying to tighten at the forestay while you are holding up the furler and bridle.

As noted above in this thread, checking the standing rigging very carefully at the start of the season is a good way to go. Look for corrosion and stray/broken pieces of shroud at each end where they exit the compression swags. Because I sail in salt water, I change the standing rigging a bit more often.