Demasted while sailing on a Hobiecat

Today I tried thought I had the last parts I needed to reassemble my rudder system and thanks to tedski for the bolt removal help I went to the harbor and went to work on it. In the end I found the bolts I had ordered were too small so I'll need to go back with the right bolts and finish the job. But while there it was a club BBQ for the Hobie club I joined and another member said he'd take me out for a sail so I decided to join him. 

It was a bit foggy still at 1pm and a bit of swell so laughing of the beach required timing the sets but we nailed it and had a smooth launch. We booked it up to the wharf and back a few times and was having a great time in decent but not very strong wind we whipped across the water easily faster than any other boats out there they really haul ass even in light wind.

On a broad reach we had been running from the wharf back to the harbor when all of a sudden hear a pop and the mast fell and the jib was also stuck und the boat. Couple boaters saw and came to out aid but with the mast off 90 degrees and the sail in the water we couldn't get the bot offering us help to get the hull to turn. They actually decided to call harbor patrol and handed the situation off to them. We were then directed to get the mast out of the water and get the jib untied and then we were finally able to get towed in slowly into the harbor. The patrol officer then took me aside after we got the bot on wheels and off the ramp that it's gotta be the 6th time they have had to rescue him and doesn't suggest I go out with him again.

The sound of the pop was the clevis pin that holds the   side stay in place. It is heald in with a split ring and are notorious for this happening. The common fix is to wrap the stay pin and split ring in electrical tape so it can't come out. I can say I'll be sure all my hardware has new split rings and wrap them up.

Thanks for sharing the adventure story, Alain. The speed of those is certainly enticing.

This gave me pause: “that it's gotta be the 6th time they have had to rescue him” -  I’m glad it wasn’t any worse!

I look forward to your report when you have all your parts in order!

Wow! Glad you got back safely.

Holy wah I was heading into the harbor around that time watching a couple sailboats make that beach launch. Looked dicey. Some good sized waves today. Glad you’re okay

That sounds like a serious mess. I helped a guy setup one on Lexington, and those masts are HEAVY. I'm glad nobody got bonked...

 

6th time being rescued! Al don’t take advice from that guy! I’m glad it ended up being okay!

oh dang, thats (not) a fun experience.

Happened to my once on a Lido 14 i had at the time.

Happy it all worked out

Thanks for sharing your experience Al.  Glad things turned out ok.

That doesn’t sound good at all, happy you are okay. I experienced a demasting when I was on a sailing snorkeling day trip from Maui. We had finished the snorkeling and were headed back. I was sitting on cabin facing the water with the steel mast cable between my legs. At the time I worked with winches, and cables every day, and thought it wasn’t a good idea to have the cable between my legs. I moved over next to it, and within 10 minutes the mast snapped at the base, and the cable sliced through the cabin right where I had been sitting.

A fishing charter boat was nearby so they had to tow us in.