Shroud Broke in Heavy Wind and Mast Fell

Was sailing today on Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada off of Wasaga Beach, in a day with perfect conditions. Winds were 26Km plus, and were offshore so the swells were minimal so the sailing was spectacular. But after an hour or so had the port side shroud fail and the mast fell a few kilometres off shore.

Was a bit of an exciting moment for a bit, as the wind was blowing us further off shore, with the next landfall being 100 Km away ( out of site on the horizon ). And the wind was too strong to paddle back to the closest shore. And as the weather was not perfect, we were only people within sight on that area of the bay.

After a bit of fussing around about how to get back ( call a friend ( not around ), call 911 for a marine unit rescue ) got the boat turned around and magically the wind raised the mast back into position on the remaining shroud lines ( going back to shore was a reciprocal course ). The trip back to shore was a bit eventful, as we needed to ensure that the mast was being held in place by the wind, and try to manage speed as the wind remained heavy and needed to nurse a bent hull/pontoon. The falling mast had bent one pontoon.

Now that everyone is back, time to assess the damage and see what it takes to get my wave back to being seaworthy.

A quick damage assessment showed that the port hull/pontoon was bent/crumpled at the front. Am thinking that using auto body technique's to straighten the hull would not give it enough strength to be sea worthy, and will need a replacement. Obliviously the port and starboard shroud lines need replacement ( a visual inspection of the starboard shroud showed it starting to fray as well. ). And the mast base on the mast now has a significant dent.

Is a replacement hull the best approach, or is it possible to repair it ?

Video of incident [youtube]https://youtu.be/Ffk8eqqfd48?si=4KUEko89Aw-cchqE[/youtube]

Mast Down - Port Hull is Bent



Sailing Back - Made great speed, almost 20 Kmh with the bent hull



Bent Hull



Mast Base



Shroud Break

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Hobie Wave - Club edition on Georgian Bay, Canada

Glad you were able to make it back to shore. Unfortunately, I think your hull is toast. Once that plastic creases, I can’t imagine that it will ever come back to full strength, even if you try to pop it back out.

For the mast base, as long as it isn’t cracked and still able to be retained on the ball, I would probably grind/file the chipped area smooth and keep using it.

sm

Further updates from my port shroud break incident last week ( https://youtu.be/Ffk8eqqfd48 )

I have inspected all my shroud lines, and found that all were in some state of failure. They all started to break at the crimp, am thinking that when they were crimped they may have been done incorrectly or in a way that created a weak point within the crimp. ( See Pictures )
So will be replacing all the shrouds, and will be inspecting them regularly going forward. My boat has always been used in fresh water, and stored after use with the mast down, so it does not look like corrusion or salt damage.

After scouring local marketplace and kijji, I couldn't find anyone selling a port hull, so will be repairing this one ( Or a cheap used wave ). My plan to fix / repair the hull is it fix the creases by using my compressor to inflate the hull, and apply heat from a hot air gun. To increase the stability going forward I will be installing the spreader bar from a jib kit. And I have found someone willing to sell one.

After leaving it in the sun for the last few days, the creases started to come out on their own, but still were visible. So I attached my compressor to the drain plug using a compressor fitting wrapped with alot of duct tape, and set the compressor to 10lbs of preasure. After letting the compressor run for a bit and pressurize the hull ( due to minor air leaks in the hull, the compressor never stopped running ) used my hot air gun on low, and warmed up the creases, and they got significantly smaller, but did not go 100% away.
I did not want to burn or melt the hull, so I was a bit conservative with the heat, but it appeared to work.

Now to wait for the spreader bar to arrive, and new shroud lines and will be ready to test it out again. Hopefully I can get it back to being 100% sea worthy afterwards.

PS If you have a port hull or a cheap wave available and are located in southern Ontario, pls let me know.




After hull repair

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Hobie Wave - Club edition on Georgian Bay, Canada

Like SRM, I think that hull is toast. I'm thinking the creases are now part of the internal structure of the plastic, and significantly weaken the area of the creases.

That being said, I understand why you want to try to save the hull. I'd add an external brace on both sides of the hull near the deck to provide some additional support. I'm just not sure what I'd use. But I'm thinking 1/4" plexiglass in maybe a three inch strip. Should be flexible enough to bend to the hull shape and able to be glued into place. You'll be able to tell quickly how much this area is flexing after the brace is added, as the flexing will pop the brace right off. It might take a couple of tries to find the right brace.

Jim Clark-Dawe

My final update

To repair the damage, I purchased replacement shrouds and forestay from Fogh Marine. All my shrouds and forestay where either broken or in the process of breaking.

And I also installed the spreader bar from the Wave Jib kit, tks Jonathan Smith and your friends in Guelph for getting the part to me.
For the bent port hull, after discussing with both Quiet Waters Sailboats and Fogh Marine, I covered the bent portion of the hull with a back plastic bag, waited for it to warm up in the sun and inflated the hull with very light air pressure ( < 10 lbs ). Most of the damage repaired it self, so I decided to leave the rest. It almost looks perfect, just a small crease.

I also want to mention the great support I received from @QWsailboats, who provided informed insight into a trigger for my shroud failure ( running with my shrouds too loose in heavy winds ).

So after repairing / replacing everything, went out today for an hour long sail in a light breeze and can say that everything went perfect. I made sure I kept close to shore today, in case I ran into problems, and can say that everything worked perfectly.

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Hobie Wave - Club edition on Georgian Bay, Canada