Mast tender hinge

[tmorgan]

Last spring when I was preparing my Sun Cat for the season, I noticed that  several bolts on the lower side of the hinge where it's attached to the mast stub were loose.  I tightened them and had no further problem during the season.  Anyone else noticed this problem?  Could it have something to do with shroud tension?  My shrouds are fairly loose..same as when the boat was delivered from the factory.  What is the ideal shroud tension for a Sun Cat? Could miles trailered be a contributor to the problem?

[capt_nemo]

tmorgan,

If your shrouds are "fairly loose .. same as when the boat was delivered from the factory.", they are, in my opinion toooo loose, and could very well have contributed to the loosening of mast hinge bolts. Excessive flexing of the mast, in way of the hinge, caused when tacking upwind in moderate to heavy winds could cause the bolts to "work" loose over time.

During the first two seasons with my NEW Sun Cat I tightened the shrouds TWICE, as the rigging stretched over time. Now I have the shrouds tensioned such that I have to really press down hard to lock the forestay quick-release lever. (And, exercise CAUTION when releasing it!) This keeps my shrouds fairly snug without the lee shroud flopping around loosely when hard on the wind. In heavy winds the lee shroud is, of course, SLIGHTLY loose.

Since trailering would certainly cause vibrations transmitted to the mast hinge, and hard bumps or rough roads heavy shock loads on the hinge bolts, it is not inconceivable that a boat trailered MANY miles or a lot on unimproved roads would have hinge bolts loosen in the process.

You do us a great service by bringing to our attention the necessity of adding mast hinge bolt inspection to our periodic maintenance checklists.

THANK YOU!

capt_nemo

[Eagleye]

The Mastender on my Eclipse had loose bolts also but I think, in my case, it was due to the forestay being too tight.  I noticed that there was a slight rake forward in the mast which was putting a lot of tension on the bolts.  I loosened the forestay and because the holes were worn I replaced the ¼" bolts with 5/16".  I do check them periodically now.

-Allen