Had my wave for a couple of weeks and its been great but today was the first time I took it out in decent winds (15 to 20 kts). The sea was up with maybe 1m rollers but the boat handled the tossing & surfing very well but...
I tacked and the bolt holding one of the shrouds snapped and the mast came down, It was quite exciting keeping nose on to the waves without any power. Luckily we were about a kilometer offshore directly opposite a surf life saving club -- they sent a boat to tow us back.
Hopefully somebody can help with a couple of questions:
There are small 'u' shaped fittings with threaded bolts holding the shrouds to the hull, it was one of these that bent and gave way. These are additional to some j shaped hooks (an opposing pair per shroud) that appear redundant. Should I be using the J shaped hooks (I cant attach both the hooks and the u bolt as there is no room)? With the j shaped hooks there is a small hole presumably to hold them together -- what should I put in the holes?
Does any body have a fail safe method for all these fittings, ie some sort of super tie/rope that can be used in addition to the standard fittings? Having a mast fall can be a bit of a disaster -- last week I was further from shore with an offshore breeze.
Many thanks!