Hi,



I've got a bad surprise that I don't want to repeat, so please help me to find out what I have done wrong... After 1/2 hour of sailing the mast collapsed on us.

This was my first time out on this 1995 H-17 sport (my catamaran experience is with H-16 and Dart). Wind conditions were 15-20 knots. We were two on board the crew (~170lb) on the trapeze and I (180 lb) on the wing seat. We were beating up wind the sails were fully sheeted the boat flat on the water and suddenly, everything collapsed. We were realy only starting to get a feel for the boat so were far (I hope) from pushing it to its limits...



After inspection all the cables are intact. The mast is bent sideway at about 1/3 of its length from the base. Mast base pin is still in position. The mast dinged and punctured the front beam.



The stays were at the tension recommended by the dealer. The day before I rigged the boat with the dealer and went over all the details. He is an experienced Hobie sailer…



Some people from the shore said that they were amazed at how much the mast was leaning backward. Once again I’ve never seen a H-17 on the water before so I relied on the dealer’s tips and instructions for the rigging.



What did I miss or did wrong? Replaying the event I am not sure if the mast broke first or if came out of the ball and then broke under pressure of the trapeze and the wind.



Please forgive my missed used of the sailing vocabulary but English is my second language ;=)