Catastrophe on the water!!

All:
Boy, today started out perfectly. We took out our 1980 H16 onto Lake Lanier for a day of sailing and racing. We had perfect winds about 12-15 MPH. We were out for about 3 hours racing every sailboat we came across. Everything was perfect and we were making our way back to the boat ramp. We just completed a tack when all of a sudden, we heard a big bang. A half a second later, we were looking at the mast, sails and boom floating in the water next to the boat. At first I thought we broke a hull but when I saw we were floating upright in the water, I surmised that we broke a shroud. As we were trying to collect the pieces of the boat from the water, my wife located the shroud that failed and it indeed snapped at the swage on the mast tang.
We were lucky enough to have a sheriff's boat come by and tow us about a mile to shore. Two hours later, the boat was on the trailer and we limped our way back home. This was a real eye-opener!!
We haven't assessed the damage to the boat, but I know the sails were ripping while we were trying to haul everything onto the boat as we were making everything ready for the tow. The battens were a real problem in trying to get the mast and the sails onto the boat. I had my knife and was cutting the batten lines so they wouldn't poke through the batten pockets but I couldn't cut all of them.
What is really surprising is that the shrouds were less than a year old. This was the last thing I thought could fail on the boat. Boy was I wrong!! We sail frequently and recently we have been putting the boat in salt water for some ocean sailing. Could that speed the deterioration of the shrouds?
I am now a bit gun shy and I am tossing about the idea of doubling the shrouds so that there is a safety in case one breaks in the future. Has anyone done this or am I being too overly cautious?
Finally, I see in the Murray's catalogue that they offer a hydraulic swaged shrouds. Do you guys think that they would be stronger and more durable? Like I said, the shrouds were less than a a year old when they failed plus they were Hobie'swith the standard swages.
The only up side to this story is that nobody was hit by the falling mast and we were rescued pretty quickly. I am hoping I can talk my wife into letting me replace the sails now that they have some rips in them. They needed replacing soon, anyway.
Thanks and I look forward to hearing your advise.

_________________
Eric Weller
2006 F18 Capricorn
1980 H16
Keep the pointy side up!

Eric, according to my parents, the wind on Lanier was around the 17mph mark today Weve got a 99' Hunter 340 that they were out on, while my hobie is being completely restored....

sounds interesting that a "newer" shroud would break....mine are as old as 1981 and never had any problems....been in salt water the whole time!

i am purchasing all new standing rigging, including Murrays hydrolocic swaged stays....extra protection in my book! they arent that more expensive too!

what actually broke? did the swage come off? did the metal literally rip in half?

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1981 Hobie 16
1982 Hobie 14 turbo (sold)
1996 SeaDoo GTI
1999 Hunter 340

I only sail in salt water and my shrouds were from 86 never had a problem but just replaced them to be safe. I have heard you should cut off that plastic coating as salt water can get trapped in there plus you really cant see if a shroud is starting to frey or rust if that coating is on it. Sorry to hear that happened to you!

_________________
Floyd
00 Tiger
http://www.HobieFleet33.com
10 Mile Surfside, Texas
Join us on our Facebook group: Surfside Sailing

No, the cable snapped at the swage at the mast tang end. There seems to be quite a bit of corrosion at the frayed cable end.
We were very blessed this happened when it did. Just 2 days earlier, we were sailing around Jekyl Island and if it happened then, we would really been stranded because there was not that much boat traffic around and the tidal current was real strong.
Yeah, Lanier was a blast today! The wind this year has been pretty weak in North Georgia which forces us to go on the road. I'm not surpised that the wind was that high. We were screaming across the water.
I hope to see you out as soon as my boat is repaired. I just got done restoring her so if you see us, make sure to flag us down.

_________________
Eric Weller
2006 F18 Capricorn
1980 H16
Keep the pointy side up!

Many say that if you sail in salt water, you should replace standing rigging every couple of years. That said, as you have seen, many have had old rigging last for a long time, depending upon conditions, wind, storage, etc. Kinking of the wires can also lead to early failure

I think what it goes to show is that you must always inspect your rigging and replace it when corosion is evident. I had a dismasting when a bow tang blew out due to corosion.

It also shows that a waterproof handheld VHF, a handheld GPS and a cell phone are essential equipment if you plan to sail in areas where boating traffic is minimal. Also, let someone know your sail plan.

Glad to hear no one was hurt. I haven't used the hydraulically swaged wires on my boat, but I did see they recommend them on larger ones...or go up in wire size is another option maybe?

Good luck!

_________________
2001 H16E (European Boat) Sail #108348 Cabo
Club Wave
1991 H14T (Crushed by a Tornado)
2006 Bravo (sold)
1986 Hobie 16 (sold)
1981 Hobe 16 (sold)
1980 Hobie 14 (sold)

It just does not sound reasonable that a shroud failed that soon. It's not that I don't believe that it happened, it's just that I suspect that something else also went on.
Could the shroud have been kinked at the swage and you not known it? Perhaps the swaging process nipped some of the wires in the bundle.
I also sail in salt water that is 10 times saltier than the ocean. I rinse after every sail, but have had no corrosion problems. I did have the mast come down one time, but that was the failure of the me to check the retaining clip on the lower shroud when a newbie crew put it on for me. I now almost always do the entire setup myself to avoid this situation.
Anyway, sorry to hear that there was damage done. We were lucky.

Pics of the failure? Were there any kinks?

Buy only Hobie Factory hydraulically swaged shrouds, and always inspect your rigging!

Get new anchor pins.

Hobie uses something like this:


Not this:


And for the aircraft eyes and forks like on the 18 and 20's they use something like this:



Rigging is serious business as you found out. A lot of stuff breaks when a mast comes down. Stainless wire doesn't like to be kinked. Always do a visual before sailing.

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Sail Revolution
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