Mast post/Dolphin striker frozen in very loose state

I can't adjust the mast post since the sleeve that prevents over-tightening protrudes below the crossbeam and is frozen. cannot tighten lower bolt at all to tighten dolphin striker. Its very loose with mast up so all the pressure is in the center of the beam ( NOT GOOD )
I don't want to sail the boat again until i can get things tight all the way around. Tightening the striker outside bolts by removing the end caps is near impossible being that the hull mount and sleeve block it. What are my options? Use a cutting wheel and cut the post in half then replace it and the sleeve? leave the top bolt loose so the mast forces the post downward and outward? Disassemble the entire front crossbar and remove from boat? buy a whole new crossbar from a used boat? I'm hoping to go sailing this summer without throwing several hundred dollars at it.
Any input is greatly appreciated!!

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Tim Grover

Memphis, TN fleet 134
Hobie 20! G-Cat5.0 and 2 Hobie 14's
Photobucket now wants $100 to post pics on forums......... pass.

Cut the post off and get a new one with a new sleeve. How old is the boat? Does it have the cup receiver on the rod for the post? That would be the easiest one to deal with.

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

Been down this road before (Hobie 17). The dolphin striker design is pretty much a perfect setup for galvanic corrosion...

The 20 setup is a little different than the 17 I believe, because on the 17, the bottom of the post is drilled and the striker rod passes through a hole in the post. On the 20, the bottom of the rod has a sleeve that has a hole in it for the rod and this sleeve slides over the end of the post to hold the two together. This is good because it means you may not need to completely disassemble the crossbar.

Part of the problem with the design (at least on the 17, I assume the 20 is similar, been a while since I've seen one up close) is that the thru holes in the crossbar are different sizes. The bottom hole is slightly larger than the diameter of the striker rod and the top hole is slightly larger then the O.D. of the compression sleeve. Once the bottom nut is installed on the striker post and the compression sleeve seizes to the post, you can't remove the striker rod. The only way to take the rod out without completely destroying it is by cutting the lower nut. On my 17, there were enough threads exposed at the bottom of the post that I could back off the lower nut maybe 1/8" just enough to cut it apart with a dremel tool and break it off the post. Then I was able to pull the entire post and frozen compression sleeve out the top of the crossbar.

Scroll down this topic, you'll see some pics of the striker post that was removed and how much corrosion you're up against.

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=53033&p=244101#p244101

Whatever you can do to prevent having to disassemble the crossbar from the hulls is probably a good thing IMO, because there's a good chance the crossbar bolts are also frozen in the aluminum mounting blocks in the hulls which could be opening up a whole can of worms if you have to take that apart.

Also be sure to use a healthy coating of Tefgel on the threads and sleeve when you re-assemble to prevent this from happening again.

sm

I had to make this repair about a year and half ago. I cut off the post with my dewalt angle grinder with a cut off wheel attached, took some patience and care. If I remember correctly, the compression post and corroded sleeve came out the top of the cross bar. I also unbolted the cross bar from the boat and removed the stainless steel bolt from the aluminum compression sleeves. Poured lots of corrosion X down the bolts to allow the bolts to come free. I was lucky and did not break any of the aluminum sleeves. This allowed me access to the inside of the cross bar so I could slide a reinforcement plate into place under where the post comes thru the top of the cross bar. Also I was able to tighten the dolphin striker bars some from both sides. After obtaining a new post from Surf City Catamarans, I had a local marine metal shop cut me a piece of stainless tubing to use a the compression spacer. Used a liberal amount of lancote on the post where it goes over the sleeve to prevent corrosion. Put it all back together very carefully and the repair is good so far.
Bummer is that there is a small amount of cracking in the cross bar where the dolphin striker goes thru the slot on the bottom of my forward cross bar. Gonna have to get a new cross bar later this year and repeat this process. Good luck, just be careful and be patient. Ryan H 20 #680

Ryan,

I have another front cross bar. Want me to bring it to Woodward?

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H18 '85
H18 '89 "Knotty Passion"
H20 '96 "20/20 Vision"
Fleet 259 Central Coast California