91 concaving hull @ piling...help!!

front starboard hull concaving/severly cracking at base of piling when sails are up. why? how do i fix it?

Your front pylon has come loose inside the hull.

Time to put an access port in to see what's going on. The port should be installed about 12" ahead of the pylon on the foredeck. Cut the hole, but don't install the port before fixing the problem - it'll give you more room to work.

Take photos from inside the hole and post them here and we'll try to guide you along.

BTW, this is what the inside looks like:

just what i was looking for!! great photo...im going to attempt to do it myself. will post back with some pix and questions. thank again!!

Pylon Repair

It is possible to pour a resin and filler material into the shoe fitting therefore bonding the post back to the shoe. YOu have to support the post in its original position first.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

First, though, you've got to see what's actually broken loose. Is it the pylon / shoe joint? or is it the pylon / hull joint?

I had a shoe break in half - with a loud noise, BTW - and one side was loose from the hull. Made an awful grinding noise when the boat worked on the water. It was repaired and it's still going today - 12 years later.

I did this repair recently on a H14 I got from Matt B. The pylon had punched down through the shoe and of course was loose. I built a frame around the pylon with 2x2's resting on the very edge of the hull for support. With some help you can pull up on the rail and shim the side rail so the pylon stays in place. We then used some cardboard to form a triangle and slid it under the shoe to stop the flow of epoxy from ending up in the bottom of the hull and to make sure the drain channel stays open. Then mixed up some West system with filler almost to peanut butter consistency and poured it into the shoe. It worked great. The next thing to do is turn the boat upside down and lay some cloth and epoxy on the deck on the inside to firm it back up. I believe west system is much better on this type of repair. It sticks to everything great and doesn't mind a little dampness. Might as well cut two ports and do the other side while your at it. My ports were behind the pylon.

fantastic information! feeling good about the project. thank you!!