Broken stay from bowsprit to bow

[longob]

I have an '87 Compac 16.   Just yesterday the bracket on the bow, that connects the stay from the bowsprit to the bow, broke when I launched the boat.   I have always thought this bracket had extra stress on it since the stay goes up and over the bow roller on the trailer.  Anyway, has anyone faced this particular problem and have any suggestions on how best to repair?

[tsaiapex]

This happened to me few years ago on my former CP16.  You are correct, that the loading/unloading on/off the trailer put a lot of abuse to this connection.  Your current setup probably has the bow stopper rests in between the bow eye and the stay.  

Try to invert the bow stopper assembly on the trailer so the stopper rests BELOW the bow eye.    The new setup unfortunately makes the safety less effective so you may have to compensate with a tie-down.

I read that FL may not allow such modification.

[mgoller]

Hi Bob,
I had the same problem on my 16.  The bow stop was a roller type and it was completely chewed up by the bow eye and stay.  To the point that the rubber was worn through and the stay was resting on the inner metal roller.  I chose to disconnect the stay when trailering.  The bow roller should actually be above the eye and the chain and winch connected below.
I have replaced the bow eye.  It isn't that bad if you take the chain locker bulkhead off and lay a comfy blanket over the bulkhead support.  Take the right tools with you when you crawl into the bow.  Take a deep socket on a 3/8" drive and get the nuts loosened.  Then use your favorite electric tool with extension on that deep socket and spin them off.  By then you'll be happy to get out.

[longob]

Thanks for the input.  I am considering whether a good solution might be to add a tang just above where the roller fits onto the bow.  It would slightly adjust the angle of the stay by a couple degrees, but not dramatically.  Thoughts?

[mgoller]

If you like it and it works - that's good design.  It wouldn't be any harder to fix the factory fitting unless you suspect you'll have the same issue again soon.  The angle of that stay loses its strength when the angle gets smaller.  Do you trailer a lot?  Consider the suggestion of moving the bow support block below the whole bow eye/stay.  As long as the bow eye is firmly attatvhed to the trailer I can't see how the compac 16 on its trailer will go anywhere.

[bro t]

Hi Bob (et al.),
    I have a cp16 on a magictilt trailer, and the bow roller on the trailer was set up from the start to contact the bow below the boweye, and the winch rope actually provides some lift the last foot or so of retrieving the boat, and the boweye is held above the roller a few inches, then I usually relax the winch rope and set it so that the boweye cannot actually come down on the roller.  This all depends primarily on the position of the critical weight-bearing keel rollers, which don't always remain in the right place, and the bunks, which need to be adjusted to the keel rollers.   There is an interesting discussion on trailer adjustments in the cp23 forum under the heading "lessons learned".  I think that my trailer setup now is awesome and very easy to launch/retrieve.  It was not always so, and in the process of doing some repairs to the trailer and painting the bottom last summer, I reset the keel rollers and bunks, and now even the boweye rides a little higher because the whole boat had been resting too low on the trailer.  If I can, I'll try to get a pic and post it this weekend.  Good luck and happy trailering!.........
bro t from Upwest Maine

[CaptK]

Any of you guys ever consider switching to a section of SS chain for the bobstay, instead of the 1x19? Just a thought and a wondering...

[bro t]

Hi Bob,
this picture shows the bowstay above the bowroller, and it's important to be sure that the weight-bearing keel rollers are adjusted to place the bow where you want it, and to be sure the bunks are only putting a very slight amount of pressure on the hull.  Good luck and happy trailering!  If you can't get the pic to enlarge, then go look in the image gallery under "boat modifications..." to see it better.  Fair winds..............
bro t. from Upwest Maine