So I got the boat all tuned up the season, had a couple great sails, then the derecho storm June 29 deposited a large limb on my port hull and sidebar. Crunch! I found nearby and bought an oldie (1984) with solid hulls, no soft spots for parts and replaced the hull and side bar. Put it all together, tightened the tramp, and then lifted the hulls to test for stiffness. The boat seems decently stiff, but the "new" port hull creaks whenever I lift and lower it. At first I thought the creak might be the pylon, but it is definitely coming from INSIDE the hull. I talked to someone who just told me that lots of hulls creak, but I am concerned that I cannot see the cause. Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? Has the pylon structure possibly separated from the hull inside? Has anyone seen a hull fail for this reason? Thanks for any input.


David Nolte
H16, H14, Nacra 5.0