No experience with the SCs, but have had a forestay tang pull out of an old Tornado while going upwind trapped (single trap those days) and full depower. This tang had just some millimeters of sideways flex on the beach. No vertical flex. Turned out it was installed in plywood with as good as no precautions to stop rot and the bolts from working on the wood. Since then I have found movement in any high load fitting holding the rig up to be unacceptable. If it was my boat, I would cut a hole for inspection and possibly remove the deck in the area for repairs/rebuilding if jugded neccesary. If Aquarius (and Bill Roberts) recommends replacing the bulkhead, it sounds like it might be the smart thing to do.


On another note:
Any hope for an F-16 report from China? Is it happening for the class there? Did you find a local sailmaker to build sails for you? If you have time, it would be good to hear from you again on the F-16 forum.