Mast blown over by 30kt wind and waves

[lweisman]

I think perhaps a sidestay must have come undone in heavy wind and seas today.   The mast literally tore out the six lag screws that held the mounting plate to the hull.  The mast and boom appear undamaged.  The port sidestay is free and unconnected, which I think is the origin of this mishap.  I'll pull the boat tomorrow for closer inspection, once the seas die down a bit, but I am ignorant as to the recommended repair and seek advice here.  Are the six lag screws the correct attachment in the first place?  I know there is a post below deck that supports the mast.  I'll try calling the Hutchins as well.  Thanks in advance.  Just yesterday, I took my first solo sail of the season, here on Lake Champlain in Vermont.

[tmw]

Mine has four screws holding the mast step to the hull. It's designed as a breakage point, to provide resistance but break before removing a large section of hull.

Sounds a bit scary in the high winds, and hope everyone is okay. The stays should not disconnect in those winds, let us know what you find.

[Finbar Beagle]

I had this happen on a siren 17.  The turnbuckle failed.

It thatboat, the tabernacle bent, but did not pull out.

[lweisman]

A wild weather day for sure.  Two other (motor) boats broke free from their moorings.  Even the hardcore sailors didn't venture out.  Mine was on our mooring, happily with all new mooring line parts with secondary zip ties for security.  I also had all three turnbuckles on the 16 wired securely (yeah right).  The 6 lag screws came out cleanly with no obvious damage to the hull.  How did you repair yours tmw?
Lee

[lweisman]

Spoke with the factory, they confirmed what tmw said about the screws being meant to pull out without damaging the deck.  It's another clever feature of these great little boats. To repair, they just epoxy wooden dowels in the screw holes and retap.  I can do that!
Lee

[tmw]

I used a dremel to clear things out a bit (was a mess, see http://cpyoa.geekworkshosting.com/forum/index.php?topic=9378.msg70747#msg70747) filled with fiberglass and epoxy, and then sanded/painted it to match again, and drilled in pilot holes for the screws to use.  Seems like new now, not too complicated to fix, and I suspect wasn't the first time it happened to my boat.

Good luck with the repairs.

[lweisman]

Oh man tmw, that photo is hard to look at.  I'll pull it out today for closer inspection and repair, but I think the deck surface stayed intact, other than six empty screw holes.  I have some powdered fiberglass to mix with epoxy for filler, although I'm temped to glue in hardwood dowels as they do at the factory.  I wouldn't want to compromise the breakaway feature of the screws though I imagine either approach would give way as readily, next time I screw up.
Thanks for the advice,
Lee