bthompson224 wrote:
I had them on my H16 and on the Getaway. Never had an issue on the 16, and the PO of the Getaway had this one for years. Just don't get one of the cheap ones, pay the money for a quality pin. Think of the cheap carabiners that come on water bottles. They look and work the same, but would you hang off a cliff from one?
I'm no expert, but I would think the loads on the float and mast are much greater under sail (and flipping the boat) than trailering. I've never read where this causes long term issues, although intuitively seeing it bounce around back there would leave you to believe there would be some fatigue. After 10 years, no signs that it is effecting my mast. After a few years with one on my Capri 14.2, no signs of any issues there either. Since there has been no design changes from Hobie, I would think this hasn't been shown to be an issue.
Maybe Hobie has some input on this?
I spent almost $80 for three of them, they were definitely not cheap pins.
I'd seen posts on this forum about not trailering with the bob, and then I saw an H16 removing theirs during teardown at the river one day. Mine was missing two screws anyway, so I figured it couldn't hurt to buy thumbscrews and remove it for longer trips. I did recently purchase the rear mast crutch for my trailer, so the mast is well supported close to the bob now.