I helped them pull the boat up on the beach. The hull was completely tore off and sitting on the tramp when they were towed in by the race committee. The mast was still standing off of the one bow tang. I saw a patch near the area where the hull split apart however the patch was completely in tact that I saw. I don't know if that was an access area to do other work or just a ding patch. So I couldn't really tell if the patch caused the problem or it was just time for that hull to go.
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<br>Looking around at the Nationals there were a lot of failiures caused by the higher than average winds that we sailed in. Tim, the winds were like 5 days of the wind we had at Des Moines. I was impressed that the boats held together as well as they did. The only thing I saw that broke too much were rudder pins. It seems like we need a better class of stainless for the rudder pins. And of course bent rudder pins at the end of the regatta were a given.
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<br>Many people continued to have rudder kick up problems in the large wind and seas including me. Some of these problems have to do with lack of maintenance but they are a pain in the butt to get set properly. I certainly worked hard to make sure that mine were working well only to still have some problems.
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<br>Overall I think Hobie puts out as good a product as anyone else.
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<br>Mike Hill
<br>H20 #791
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