Mast Base V Brace brass nut stripped

Hi, New to the forum.

I have a 2015 TI with the 1/4-inch V base stud. We love it!

A week and a half ago we heard a bang and the mast tipped back approximately 30 degrees.

The next day we found that the stud had come out of the hull with no other damage. We put it all back together using blue loctite. It did not seem striped when I screwed it down tight. I assumed it must have back out over the years. Then I ordered a new set screw as there was some flattening of the threads around the V brace bracket. I figured I would replace the stud once the new one came in, but in the meantime, I thought it was ok to sail.

However, the next time we sailed after about 45 minutes it happened again. Both times the wind was around 10 mph. The stud is full length and not broken, however the threads do show signs of stripping. I have not tried to re-install the old stud, or the new one, which I have since received.

In order to fix it, I am considering drilling and tapping the nut to 5/16-18 and using the new stud for 2016 and later models. I would also drill a larger hole in the V brace.

I wanted to check to see if drilling and tapping the nut would be ok (is the old nut large enough to accommodate the larger hole). I have reached out to Hobie with phone messages at the front desk and to Diana Caballero. So far, I have received no response.

I was hoping someone here could offer some help.

I have read the sticky thread posted by Matt on stud replacement (too late it seems). In the follow-up messaging he implies that the nut on the 2015 is smaller than 2016 and later but does not state it explicitly. I am hoping the nut is large enough and he did not check.

In the case the nut is too small, the other option is to pack the nut with some kind of hard epoxy and re-drill and tap to 1/4-20. Any recommendations for epoxy in this case as well as epoxies that will adhere to the hull?

Sorry for the long-winded post and thanks in advance for any help.

Pete

Sorry this place has become pretty dead in the 4 years I took a hiatus. I don't know if it's because of the pain in the butt to upload pictures, a few pedantic members, or perhaps bad moderators?

I'm my opinion, and I have no direct experience fixing this problem, but have observed several remedies, all of your suggestions appear doable as long as you don't heat up the nut. Another consideration may be to additionally bed the entire mast base in a form of epoxy or other type plastic that bonds with polyethylene, which I have seen done to add rigidity.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.

After not hearing back from Hobie or anyone on the forum for awhile, I took the plunge and drilled and tapped the nut to 5/16-18 and re-installed everything. The nut seemed to have enough metal yet afterwards. I had to also open up the hole on the V-Brkt and the mast base for the larger stud. I did this a few days ago but have not had a chance to get out and test it, fingers crossed.

As far as using epoxy, I watched videos testing JB weld in stripped holes and the strength of the joint was significantly reduced from original threads. I also did a preliminary look for epoxies that would adhere to polyethylene and found that most don't and some special formulation or type is required. I did not get any further with this as I decided to go the drill and tap route.

Things have indeed slowed down here a bit for sure as several of our older big-time contributors have sold their TI/AIs, have simply moved on, and sadly, at least one has passed away (RIP @tonystott). Covid probably didn't help either, boating wasn't easy at crowded docks during the covid scare years and many went into seclusion and gave up their recreational interests for a while rather than be near people, but things are now returning to normal. Additionally, I think younger people now buying Hobies perhaps go to Facebook forums first rather than conventional ones such as this, probably because they grew up with Facebook (ugh). It's a shame because the abbreviated format there does not work as well as these forums. I could have never published my lengthy, detailed motor reviews there. And if you want to remain anonymous on online forums for your privacy and security, Facebook is not the place to be as everyone there knows your actual name and based on things you may say, can find out exactly where you live. I imagine many on conventional forums are not cool with that.

Uploading photos here requires a bit more work than on other forums, but this is a Hobie-owned non-profit community forum with no ads. Hobie is probably not willing to spend a lot of money on server space hosting thousands of photos or upgrading its rather outdated format. IT costs for that would be considerable and would need to ROI. However, once you take a little time to learn how and find a free place to put them such as Imgur, uploading photos is not all that difficult. Simply click on Img in the edit panel and then insert the image's URL. Anyone can do that.

As to the moderators, Matt Miller did an incredible job here for many, many years. Now that Matt's recently retired, he is very much missed. We really have yet to hear from the new moderator(s), but I've never had any issues with this forum's moderation. Much less intrusive and fairer than many other forums. You rarely see moderator-involved issues here and the forum runs very smoothly.

As for pedantic members (such as myself ), you'll find them on every forum in existence. Online forums require a lot of patience with all kinds of personalities, but most of the people here are awesome.

All told, I feel this forum is still very valuable. Who knows, it may return to its former popularity, but even if it doesn't, many of us here still call it home.

Thank you very much for your update. I wasn't able to answer your question, but providing your feedback on drilling and tapping is much appreciated. I'm an owner of the older model with the same configuration as yours, and while I haven't experienced your issue (I had the bolt shear a couple of weeks ago, but had enough remaining to extract it), it's great to know that there's enough material there to be able to drill and tap if I ever need to.
Cheers!
Michael.

Sounds like a solution!