Mast Down - ALERT

[harrys]

Today we were enjoying a fast sail on Lake Ontario.  As we turned to head back to the marina we heard a loud crack.  What was that?  As we stood stupefied we heard another crack and the sound of fiberglass shredding as the bowsprit went vertical and the mast came tumbling down into the lake.  When we examined the boat on shore, it was evident that the weld holding the bowsprit brace to the bow let loose.  That left the bowsprit and fiberglass holding the mast up which was no match for a stiff breeze.  

On close examination of the weld, it was poor and only along one side. Even though it was stainless steel, there was rust residue along the inside of the joint.  It is my opinion that his is a design fault and should be changed to something better.  Does anyone know if Compac has a better design for this piece?

[Craig]

What year is your HC? Friends of mine had a similar problem last year on an older HC. They did not loose the mast but needed repairs to the bowsprit and bow fiberglass. Just checked the fitting on my 2013 and they have changed the bow fitting to a beefier trapezoidal shaped fitting.

[harrys]

My HC is a 2004 model.  Hopefully this newer design is the answer.
I have contacted the agent who I bought the boat from. Thanks for the info. 

[CaptRon28]

My 2008 model seems to have a larger / stronger bracket on the bow, with no welds -

[harrys]

Thanks for the info.  It seems that this is a known problem.  Too bad I wasn't informed before all the damage was done.

Will let you know how I make out with the repairs.

[Salty19]

I've got to believe that Hutchins will help you resolve this important safety issue.
Please call them, talk to Gerry about it and let us know what he says. Other HC owners with the welded bracket should also be calling about a retrofit kit.

This thread is now a "sticky", which will leave this post at the top of the Horizon Cat forum for better publicity so to speak.
Other HC owners need to know about this.

[skip1930]

This is why a cable is used from the 'eye' to the bow sprit.

In real life every heavy lift is 'cable', not 'chain', and not 'tube'. And the cable is sedged around a thimble to create an eye for pinning or a clevis.
Side bar: When using a clevis that screws the pin in to the yoke ... finger tight, then back the threads off a turn so if the clevis spreads, you can sill pull the pin.

BayShip Building's max-lift is 250 ton. On cable.

This sucks that that happened. Why? Because a nice shiny tube looks better than a nasty old rope wound cable?

If the boat is fitted with the bow set-up pictured ... modify the yoke on the leading edge of the hull as a one piece formed 'U' shape with the bolts through the bottom of the 'U' and outside mounting plate, through the hull and the hardpoint glassed in and backed up with a inside companion plate inside the boat that the flat washers and ny-loc nuts rest on. Tighten the bolts snug. No need to 'squeeze' the water out of the fiberglass and stress crack everything. Of course I would drown everything in 3M-5200 slow set, that alone ought to hold it ... just kidding, and spend the next hour wiping up the drips. Not kidding.

This makes a metal sandwich. Again. Thickness of the metal in decimal-inch x 10,000 lb divided by 4 = the strength in pounds of each layer of metal plate. This set-up would not even require welding. Just form it, drill it, bolt it, cable it. Bolts --:> I might consider 3/8-16 x #2 hex SLT, grade 8 with hardened washers. You'll not pull that apart before pulling the bow off the hull.

example; 3/8 inch plate [0.375] x 10,000 divided by 4 = 937 lb.

skip.

[Allure2sail]

Hi:
I had to have the mounting port and starboard feet of my 1987 27/2 bow rail welded again because the factory weld had cracked. Interesting coincidence.
Allure

[harrys]

As you can see by the photos, the boatyard did a fantastic job repairing the glass and matching the gel coat. The boat was in the yard for 3.5 weeks. It took a week to get estimates for the insurance company, the glass work took about a week and the rest was waiting for the parts to arrive from the factory. Hutchins was responsive in getting the replacement bracket (which was much beefier than the original) shipped right after I contacted them. During the repair it was discovered that the bowsprit was cracked and should be replaced. Hutchins expedited the manufacture of a new one and shipped it a couple of days after being notified.

After all was done and with the good performance of the boatyard, the insurance company, and the manufacturer, this was about as good an outcome as one could expect. The bad side is that I missed 4 weeks of some of the best sailing weather in a short season.

[Rathmann]

After reading this post I went down to my 2005 Horizon Cat and checked the bracket, weld on port side was broken half way up!!! Called yesterday and ordered replacement part. Thanks so much for sharing this. Has anyone replaced the SS pipe with wire as someone else suggested? Also would be interested in knowing if anyone has found an autopilot to adapt to the HC with wheel steering?

[Andre]

Not sure if substituting wire/rope/chain for the tube is a good solution, since there may be times (anchoring for example) when it's under compression rather than tension.

I have considered (but not done it) ADDING a backup wire/rope/chain, perhaps to the bow eye just in case.  My HC is a 2014 with the more robust bracket.

Andre

[Greg]

Just bought a 2006 Horizon Cat (burgundy, exe cond) execpt the welds on both sides of the bracket are cracked half way from the bottom up. Called Com-pac to see about a replacement for the failing bracket and they want $55.00 for it. Seems a little odd to pay for a known defective part that can result in a catastrophic failure even if I'm not the original buyer.
Not tryin to get somethin for nothin, but...