Create a New Forum Admin Login Member Login Contribute to Voyager Search VoyForums Help Desk VoyForums Exchange VoyForums Directory/Categories VoyForums Homepage VoyForums News FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

23/07/03 14:51:33

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, [3], 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 ]

Subject: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? Author: brian henry [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 4/12/05 15:54:21 I am sure that you all are far more careful and consequent sailors than I but my 1980 Trapper 500 had never had her standing rigging down for checking or replacement - that’s 25 years so I suppose I had what was coming to me. But keeping a boat in a warm climate with limited humidity with no evidence of rusting or visible deterioration whatsoever had given me a false sense of security. Oh, I had meticulously examined what was observable and accessible; I had even been to the top of the mast a couple of times, the last only in 2004, to visually check what I could, but a rigging failure this year shows why that was insufficient. The failure was one which I would not have thought as being one of the weakest links in the mast support structure – it was the masthead forestay toggle, the connection between the forestay terminal and the masthead tang. This is a very substantial-looking casting with a single 12mm section and 16mm clevis pin on the top, leading to double 3mm sections enclosing the forestay terminal held by a 12mm clevis pin. A pity I cannot embed a photograph in this forum – but you can see what I mean here: http://bosunsupplies.com/products2.cfm?product=S0168 The crystalline nature of the breaks running through the centreline of the two cheeks (position line “D” in the diagram) show by their rust colour that the underneath section had earlier fractured while the upper section breaks were clean, new fractures. It is possible that the hairline cracks of the earlier failure would not have been visible in their position under the top one when I visually inspected last year, so there is no knowing just how long I had been sailing with a time bomb ticking away. We were very lucky that the furling headsail and halyard held the mast up when the failure occurred (and subsequently furled normally) in the strong wind and that shelter with a crane available lay only 5nm distant; it was a salutary lesson that I feel should be passed on to all those of you who have yachts of a similar type and age. Brian. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Subject Author Date Re: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? Anders 6/12/05 1:15:19 Re: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? -- nick, 6/12/05 2:09:09 Re: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? -- brian henry, 6/12/05 8:26:41 Re: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? -- brian henry, 6/12/05 8:00:20 Re: T500 Rigging Failure - when did you last change yours? Alan Lambton 7/12/05 9:32:06