Hobie 16 masthead repair

Yesterday my daughter and her friends went out on her 1989 Hobie 16 which is in terrific shape in winds about 25k. We know it was sporty and they seemed to have the boat under control when all of a sudden the sail seemed to rip out of the mast. No damage to the sail, but the masthead assembly was pulled right off to the starboard side, then pulled right off the mast.

We'll have to buy a new masthead, part 20614001, but you can see where the rivets were ripped out of the carbon fibre. We're puzzled how to repair this:

Should we cut off the 3/4 inch of the top of the comp tip, then replace the masthead assembly? This may have a different effect when we hook the main up by lowering the sail to the tramp.

Should we use West System and glass in that top, then redrill to replace the masthead assembly? Would the glass repair be just as strong?

Does anyone have any advice? I already checked out the Hobie Product Support website and this is not one of their popular repairs.

Wyatt

Wyatt,

Sorry about the luck. I have never heard of that happening before. Unless you want to race it in class, You probably could cut off the top 3/4" and start over. It minimize the drop in sail position you may want to relocate the main halyard hook down about 3/4" as well.

Nick:

There were four of us old salts watching with about twenty-five years experience each. No one has ever seen this before either.

W

Wyatt,

In that case, you may want to check out the comp tip to make sure it hasn't degraded or doesn't have some other structural problem.

I would even suggest posting on the Hobie forum. You might get Matt Miller's attention faster that way.

I am just curious as to why there was so much tension on the mast head. It should be completely under compression since the sail is pulling on it and the halyard hooks onto the mast on the other side.

Keep us all posted with what ever you find out.

As long as the structure is intact up there (no big chunks missing), I would drill new rivet locations and re-install. I too cannot imagine what forces would cause the head assembly to pull to one side. Certainly is odd.

Thanks, Matt. I agree with your repair plans. We now think that the mast head assembly was ripped off BEFORE we raised the sail all the way up, because the sail ran away from the boat on the beach.

Then, when under stress, it just came down.

I knew I could count on you; thanks for monitoring the websites.

W