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Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
http://www.hobie.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=71&t=48038		 Page 2 of 2
Author:  carsautotech [ Mon Jun 17, 2013 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
I wouldn't call that a shake down. To me a shake down would be rida the TI in slightly choppy water more winds in the upper 20 knots. Thats how I rode my first AI before I realized it was going to be offshore worthy. Heck even the rental AI that I took offshore that was 3 years old, deformed seals in the hatches, severely mistreated by newbies and worn out everything was worthy. This rental went through 30 plus winds, 10 ft.swells and heavy rain that day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv45y9a ... ata_player
Author:  Chekika [ Mon Jun 17, 2013 8:25 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
I'm only a little embarrassed to say that I am somewhat poor when it comes to maintenance/shakedown cruises. I lube the Mirage drive faithfully, clean & lube the seals on the round hatches, oil the round hatch covers and all clam cleats, oil the Mirage drive cleats. I wash the boat(s) and akas down thoroughly with fresh water after each outing, but beyond that, I don't do much. Occasionally, when I read of a problem here on the forum, I look into it.

Conversely, I don't have a 55 g/m pump installed (I do carry a hand pump), I don't check the mast base unless some problem is mentioned on the forum, I don't worry about hull leaks below the water line, and I have never had any cause to worry about the mast breaking. Personally, if I had to worry about too many things on my AIs, that would take all the fun out of it. The old T&S rudder and its problematic pin did border on "mental fatigue," but, even that I generally ignored on our 4-8 day camping trips along coastal everglades. I've only seen 2 examples of the aka brace break-away bolt failing and both were due to operators colliding with a piling.

I would say the danger of a mast breaking is going to be so far down on my list of worries, so as to fall off the end.

Keith
Author:  NOHUHU [ Tue Jun 18, 2013 2:52 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
What's amazing, is that you got the rig to sail after that!

Couple things I wonder about:

Was the sail damaged at all in the "incident"?

Why is it only 70 ft deep , 7 miles from shore!!?? :lol:
Author:  PassWind [ Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Chekika wrote:

I would say the danger of a mast breaking is going to be so far down on my list of worries, so as to fall off the end.

Keith


I concur .. two weekends' ago I maidened my "almost new" 2007 AI in 22mph sustained winds and had my wife on it for her first sailing experience last weekend (8-12 mph winds).

Sure, I went over it pretty good before putting it in the wet stuff but I had no reservations about hitting it hard and fast right from the get-go ... and it didn't disappoint.

I'm sure somewhere, somehow this mast took a hit good enough to cause a stress riser right at the drum. Who/what/where/when and how are left for the detectives. Luckily that shouldn't be the OP's problem with Hobie's awesome customer service and warranty

... BTW, my wife actually liked it :shock:
Author:  carsautotech [ Tue Jun 18, 2013 7:33 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
NOHUHU wrote:
What's amazing, is that you got the rig to sail after that!

Couple things I wonder about:

Was the sail damaged at all in the "incident"?

Why is it only 70 ft deep , 7 miles from shore!!?? :lol:


The sail was kinked at the clear plastic piece due to it coming down on my fishing rod that was rigged with rattle trap with 2 tribble hooks.

On the other part the gulf of Mexico has a very long slope, so one has yo travel a long distance to reach deeper waters.
Author:  dougc405 [ Wed Jun 19, 2013 9:41 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Although carbon fiber has a high strength to weight ratio, failures are often catastrophic. I've seen almost new bicycle steerers snap just like that mast and the result is not pretty. I worried about such failures for a long time after being hit by a car on my carbon bike, even thought there was no apparent damage (wish I could say the same for me).

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Author:  fusioneng [ Wed Jun 19, 2013 1:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
carsautotech :
Though I have never broken a mast (or even close) I was concerned about mast breakage down near the base on one of my earlier TI's. What I did was went to Home Depot and bought one of those Ames replacement ax handles (they are yellow plastic overmolded over a fiberglass pulltrusion) I took it home and stripped all the yellow plastic off the pulltrusion. I then slid it into a piece of PVC pipe and dropped it down into the bottom of the mast. The ax handle is around 32 inches long weighs about 1 lb and is super strong. You can put each end on bricks and a 250 lb guy can jump up and down in the center all day long ( I helped design the thing a long time ago, and built all the molds for it). If you see pictures of my TI I have one of these pulltrusions as my bow sprit, and also as a rotating mast topper (they are super strong and light weight).
The thing cost 14 bucks, won't corrode, and just slides down into the bottom of the mast (held down by gravity). Basically it just re-enforces the critical area of the mast giving it more strength. It doesn't change the way the mast flex's up above (I don't recommend trying to re-enforce the mast any higher than just the base), it's just an extra safety factor for your own piece of mind.
I have massive sails (260 sq ft) on my TI and have probably pushed my TI's more than anyone else out there, never with any issues or problems. On my latest TI (2012) I didn't bother dropping that pultrusion into the mast when I bought this latest boat, I don't feel I need it.
But if you want a little extra piece of mind, this is something you can do to set you own mind at ease. ( I suspect you had a faulty mast, since this is the first one any of us have heard of breaking this way), I'm sure Hobie will stand behind it warranty wise, they are the best in that way.
Bob
Author:  Tom Kirkman [ Wed Jun 19, 2013 3:20 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Do you have any close up photos of the break, the inside edges, perhaps?
Author:  carsautotech [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:22 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
fusioneng wrote:
carsautotech :
Though I have never broken a mast (or even close) I was concerned about mast breakage down near the base on one of my earlier TI's. What I did was went to Home Depot and bought one of those Ames replacement ax handles (they are yellow plastic overmolded over a fiberglass pulltrusion) I took it home and stripped all the yellow plastic off the pulltrusion. I then slid it into a piece of PVC pipe and dropped it down into the bottom of the mast. The ax handle is around 32 inches long weighs about 1 lb and is super strong. You can put each end on bricks and a 250 lb guy can jump up and down in the center all day long ( I helped design the thing a long time ago, and built all the molds for it). If you see pictures of my TI I have one of these pulltrusions as my bow sprit, and also as a rotating mast topper (they are super strong and light weight).
The thing cost 14 bucks, won't corrode, and just slides down into the bottom of the mast (held down by gravity). Basically it just re-enforces the critical area of the mast giving it more strength. It doesn't change the way the mast flex's up above (I don't recommend trying to re-enforce the mast any higher than just the base), it's just an extra safety factor for your own piece of mind.
I have massive sails (260 sq ft) on my TI and have probably pushed my TI's more than anyone else out there, never with any issues or problems. On my latest TI (2012) I didn't bother dropping that pultrusion into the mast when I bought this latest boat, I don't feel I need it.
But if you want a little extra piece of mind, this is something you can do to set you own mind at ease. ( I suspect you had a faulty mast, since this is the first one any of us have heard of breaking this way), I'm sure Hobie will stand behind it warranty wise, they are the best in that way.


Bob


Thats is a great idea on the axe handle. I was looking for something like that to stick in the hull in case if it ever snaps again. I was thinking of a aluminum pipe about 4 ft long, but for the price, that's good enough.
Author:  carsautotech [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 10:33 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Tom Kirkman wrote:
Do you have any close up photos of the break, the inside edges, perhaps?


I don't have any more pics, but I deal with a lot of problems related to machanical failures. What I think is that pole was epoxyed to the furling drum. So it seems that the bonding wasn't correct or the pole was not pushed in all the way causing to much stress on the base of the pole. Because when the mast came down , there was a loud snap. If you see the breakage, you see it was a clean snap. The splinters on the pole came later as the mast and sail came down . Also more splintering occurred while sailing down wind and mast moving side to side.
Author:  NOHUHU [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 11:18 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Noone wants to lose an expensive mast, especially so far offshore, but I have to wonder if this breakage didn't prevent a more dangerous breach of the hull.

In any case, I would keep an eye on the hull and aka crossbar for signs of cracks.
Author:  Tom Kirkman [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 1:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Tubes go somewhat oval when they flex. Anything you put on or around a tube creates a sheer point at that location. However, down that low, where the walls are the thickest, it shouldn't generally cause a problem within the confines of the amount of flex these masts exhibit. The flaw or defect was almost surely in the mast itself. Either a dry area due to bad prepeg or improper cure, or perhaps and more likely, some sort of damage (fracture or bruise) in that area prior to you getting it.
Author:  carsautotech [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 5:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Just got word from my dealer, that hobie is now sending a new mast assembly.
Author:  vetgam [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 6:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Good to hear Cars. See you on the water soon.
Author:  carsautotech [ Thu Jun 20, 2013 7:00 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Broken mast 7 miles offshore.
Thanks vetgam,
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