New I-20 owner with 2001 model. Tramp bolt rope slot in hull has loosened/fatigued to a point where the bolt rope pulls out. Any repair advice?

My thoughts are to fill slot with epoxy/fiberglass mix and then router out with factory sized routers in a secure jig.

I know some folks sewed another layer of tramp material around the bolt-rope. Might be easier than partially filling the slot.

Welcome to catsailor.

Got a picture? Always helps. I have seen it, but the very good resource your asking here has not.


Nice team name. Hmmm implies you might use that there RacerX 6.0 spin on the N20.

Standard problem. Send the trampoline back to Elliot Patterson Sailmakers (E/P) and they will modify it to the side lacing style. They cut the side bolt ropes off the trampoline and sew in reinforcement and a series of small nylon loops. They also supply a super large bolt rope to slide into the hull with matching nylon webbing loops. The upgrade will come with enough 1/8" Amsteel to relace the trampoline. Cost is probably around $100 to $150 for the modification.

Jake,

Hopefully Tyler will provide a picture. From what I saw there is actually a working crack in the hull track. I'm thinking that needs to be repaired. From what I saw, a larger bolt rope will just help propagate the crack.

Tyler, have Joe take a picture at lunch and you could have your answer this afternoon.

Jake,
I think the tramp you are referring to is what we currently have. Picture attached. Any other ideas?

Oh.....wow. Yeah, that sucks.

I'll have to think on that for a bit...my first thought is to try and find a piece of thin firm extruded tubing (polyethylene) that you could cut a groove in and slide it and the bolt rope into the hull. McMaster.com has polyethylene tubing in just about any size and wall thickness you can dream up. A razor blade should open it up to receive the bolt rope and loops. After that, you might consider injecting epoxy into the groove but that could really get tricky...not sure I would try that or not.

I'm just throwing out ideas, but what if you used said poly tubing (sized right to slide the bolt rope), left it whole, plugged the ends, masked of the boat really well, filled the slot with thickened resin, slid in the tubing, let it cure, then cut/route out the tubing to form the opening for the bolt rope.

Can you physically flex the bolt rope slot?

I can't quite make it out in the photo - what kind of profile is in that groove? Is it rounded (i.e. a "C") or wedge shaped like a sideways "V" open at the bottom.

A friend put knots in each end of a short length of small diameter line and threaded those into the track. These form loops that you can then lace the tramp to. You would need to restitch the tramp straps that has the line through it though. Maybe this is the mod from EP that a previous post mentioned.

Might be a bad idea... but what about foregoing the use the the track at all and putting screws into the hull like the current boats have with the line that goes around them, you could use the current loops on the tramp I would think. And if you put the screws into the hull where they came out into the track you wouldn't have to worry about leaking.

You need sail slugs.


They're only about a buck and a half here.

Another type of slug.

and another kind of slug here

My suggestion:

Grind open the slot in the existing bolt rope groove until it is wide enough to accept a carbon fiber tube big enough to fit an acceptable size bolt rope or slugs through. Then epoxy the tube into the slot with adhesive high density filler + west system epoxy. Overlay the tube with layers of carbon cloth and eopxy spread onto the hull on either side. Then cut a slot in the carbon tube using a dremel and a straight edge jig aligned with the tube. Fair out with low density filler. Then finish with gel coat (which can be applied over an epoxy repair)

Chris.

I did a quick fix during one regata. That fix lasts 2 years <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> untill I sold the boat (Nacra F17). I believe, new owner still use same trick.

While tramp is loose, slide old broken batten into slot under trampoline then tight the trampoline. Batten will jam a boltrope.

Or you could just replace the bolt rope, with a plastic tube which might not crush so easily and slip out the slot. Like the the A cat guys that use a solid plastic tube in the sails they push up the mast, instead of a limp rope. A sailmaker might have what you need.

I believe that if THAT rope (which is HUGE compared to the original bolt rope) is pulling out, there is a significant underlying problem. Putting in the plastic slugs will probably make the issue worse when they pull out. Somehow, I believe the slot needs to be filled and reformed.

Jake,

How did you determine or ascertain that this rope in question is a lot larger than stock?

GARY

Great Ideas....Thank you.
The bolt rope channel is still in a C shape. The areas where the rope doesn't pull through look to be 1/4" wide, but where the rope pulls through its 5/16 or so.
The wider slot looks to show that it is bending open due to "FATigue" as opposed to a crack that would signify a failure.

Thats why I thought filling the slot and CAREFULLY routing a new groove to meet factory specs is good. I'm a bit concerned that a slight slip with teh router (even if I use a custom jig) would be a major deal. The forum suggestions are aweome to get the alternative ideas flowing.

I'm also considering the idea of a soild fiberglass batten epoxyed into the existing track with room left in strategic places to thread in the new tramp lacing.

Good suggestions. I would either go with your original plan and spend alot of time to build a jig for the router, or the idea of putting a carbon fiber tube into it.

One thing that may help, does anyone know how the slot is made at the factory?? Jake, you've been to the factory right?? I think understanding this will help coming up with a good repair.

We replaced the rope with slugs which are used in [bigger] monohulls for guidance of the battens in the mailsail. The slugs are then tied to the tramp with a rope [4 mm- dyna stuff]

works perfect maily due to the fact that the slugs have a very small "loop" so they do not stick out very far from the "C"tube in the hull [approx. 10 mm/~0,4 inch]

cost approx - $15,- the slugs are available in variuos loop sizes and "base" diamater [the part that goes in the "c" tube in the hull] and material - we found out that the cheapest plastic ones work the best

When I visited they had already converted completely to the screw attachment method.

Wouldn't the slugs concentrate the force into a 1-2 inch area and make it more likely to pull out if the slot is flexing.
Fixing the slot seems to be the first priority.