Mast Step Link

I have a 83 H-16 that I have almost completely restored with the help of many of the members on this site. My brother and I had finished a incredible day last week with wind at 17-20 and gusts up to 25. We had the boat on the trailer with the mast pinned. I had just begun to lower the mast when the mast step llink snapped. I think having the mast partially lowered when it snapped helped to prevent any serious damage. I have not seen this problem with any postings on this site, but after this experience I think it would be wise for anybody with a older boat to replace this inexpensive part.

Wow. Mine is pretty bent up, probably from having rigged the boat and sailed away with it in place, but since the side plates are IIRC continuous from the step pin to the mast pin, I wouldn't expect them to snap.

In my early days of Hobie ownership I dropped the mast once without the stepping link in place... no one was hurt and I'll hopefully never experience that again. I'm going to make sure to replace my bent link!

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'00 H16 #104691
'78 H16 #32692 ex-rental [gone]
Old Holsclaw trailer
My Hobie 16 pages

I'd love to see a photo of the broken part. I can't even imagine the stainless plates failing... and both sides? Is what you used a Hobie step link? Stainless steel?

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

The mast step link is the original Hobie part. I saved the failed pieces, but I don't know how to post a picture. The 16 hole is very out of round compared to the 14 hole. The break is right where the shoulder of the link is connected to the base portion that is connected to the mast step cup. I did see a mention of a potential problem in the Hobie assembly manual that says "As you begin to raise the mast, the link will rotate upward. Once having begun, keep the mast from twisting, or the link could be damaged". I was lowering the mast when this happened, but the stress is similar. This boat has made many people very happy for 27 years. I just want to make people aware of a potential problem.

The damage you're describing is torsional. For some reason your mast stepper was being twisted by the mast. That or you stepped the mast too far forward w/out allowing the ball to drop into the cup. By putting the ball ahead of the cup it won't seat and could give enough leverage to probably break just about anything at that point.

The bolt in my link needs to be replaced. It doesn't even look like hardened stainless, just some cheapo bolt. It is belt to hell but no way a hardened bolt would do that under normal circumstances.

I've had to straighten out my mast step link a few times over the years, that's a huge force applied to a small area if you let the mast twist even just a little bit

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1990 "Formula 1" H16 (# 009)