Mast falling on brand new boat

Bad news. I have a new Wave. Haven't even had a chance to sail it yet. We put the mast up yesterday and left the boat tied to our dock while we had lunch. We heard a loud crash and found that the mast had come down damaging the tiller cross bar. The three mast wires had pulled out of the bell shackle at the mast tang. We found the bell shackle on the tramp but could not find the pin that secures the wires. That part of the boat was assembled by the company that sold us the boat so we don't know whether they didn't assemble it correctly or whether the pin was faulty. Has anyone else had this problem? There were lots of motorboats on the lake yesterday because everyone was waterskiing over the July 4th weekend. In other words, my Wave was rocking a lot in the wavy water.

Shackles need to be tightened with pliers. This is not a defect. The pin simply in screwed due to the rocking motions being left in the water.

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

I had the shackle pin unscrew on the forestay of my Getaway, but luckily, I caught it before the mast came down. My fault, I had taken off the jib to wash it and hand tightened it. I drilled a hole in the pin and, after tightening it with pliers, safety wired it.

That said, if you hadn't undone the pin, on a new boat, the dealer obviously didn't tighten it enough. I'd say it's on him.

I had a trailer leaf spring bolt back almost all the way out. The dealer had assembled the trailer, and either left off the nut, or didn't tighten it down into the nylock. Again, luckily I caught it before damage resulted. I loctited all the nuts on the suspension after that, and told the dealer that he was darn lucky it didn't come out on the highway.

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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

I have every intention of contacting the dealer. Couldn't do it until now because of the holiday weekend. However, if the pin unscrews that easily (the boat wasn't constantly rocking, and it was only for a couple of hours) then I think there is a design flaw. I intend to teach my grandchildren how to sail in this boat. How can I be sure that the mast won't come down while we are sailing? We are certainly going to come in contact with waves since we are on a lake with motorboats. Also, we were not informed that it was unsafe to leave a Hobie Wave attached to a dock in the water.

Just talked to the person who assembled our boat. He claims that he did use pliers to tighten the pin. Has anyone had experience using anything other than the factory pin to secure the wires?

Your right, it shouldn't come loose, don't care if its rocking in the water. I think its safe to say he didn't tighten it properly. Blue loctite? maybe.

either replace the shackle with one with a drilled pin, or drill a hole in the flat end of the pin, and safety wire it. All the shackles for my standing rigging are safety wired.

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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

Properly tightened shackles do not just come loose. There is no design flaw here. Same system / parts used for many decades and thousands in brutal rental service year round without issues.

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

Happened to me too... after reviewing everything afterwards, it was clearly my fault. I keep everything tightened and wired and have had no other issue in 10 years.

Put a dab of blue loctite on the threads of the shackle pin before installing.
Use a pair of pliers to firmly tighten the pin into the shackle body.
Secure the shackle pin to the shackle body using a safety wire or a zip tie.
The pin will never work itself loose.

As Matt said, there is no design flaw. If the pin is installed correctly, the shackle is completely adequate and safe.

sm

Sorry to hear about the fallen mast. I completely understand you being nervous about it happening again, but this was a setup error and not a design issue. Are there other sailboats on your lake? Hopefully you can meet up with them and enjoy teaching your grandkids about sailing. I am teaching my kids on Waves these days and loving (almost) every minute of it.

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Scott
Hobie 18 w/wings
Hobie/Holder 12 Funseeker
2 Hobie Waves
Tandem Oasis Kayak
Hobie 16
Southern California