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PostPosted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:19 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:09 pm
Posts: 2
OK, I'm a new Hobie Wave owner. Absolutely loving it. Except.... Was sailing yesterday in a 15mph wind... small waves, not much more than a foot. Up on one hull part of the time. Going into a tack when suddenly... Snap. The mast crashes down just missing my head, and I'm stuck a mile out. (had to figure out a way to hold the mast up a little to catch a little air and have a chance of drifting back..... took an hour.

Turns out the clevis pin on the forestay/bridle adjuster either broke or, more likely came out. It was set up by the dealer who sold me the (new) Wave. He'd never heard of this happening. Only assumption is the locking ring somehow came loose. Has this happened to anyone else? Any explanation for how? It was not a happy moment. I'd like to be triple confident it won't happen again!

Thanks,

- Chris

EDIT: OK, a little more clarity. The dealer came out to fix. It was actually the bow shackle that was the problem. I think he only hand tightened it on initial installation... must have worked loose and off flew the bridles... bow shackle vanished. Lesson learned. Tighten those shackles with pliers and tape. Is that correct practice? Sorry, clevis pin. I wrongly maligned you.


Last edited by Napeague Flyer on Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:56 am 
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Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2007 7:58 pm
Posts: 429
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Welcome to the club! Sorry your first experience ended badly. :( I'm glad you weren't injured!

Without the missing pin as evidence, it's tough to say what went wrong. I doubt a pin would break in that situation, but I suppose it could happen if it was defective. Was there anything else damaged?

I'd say the only clue is that putting the ring on the pin is usually the last thing done when raising the mast. Perhaps the dealer was too anxious to get you on your way, and he forgot the ring or didn't get it spun all the way on. Or maybe he spun it too far, and it started off the other way.

The other possibility is that someone else fiddled with it, between the time the dealer set it up and you took it out. There are people who will do that sort of thing, just for kicks.

Either way, it's not something which happens often; but it is always a good idea to take a look at your rigging before heading out.

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2006 Hobie Wave 7358
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:55 am 
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Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 12:55 am
Posts: 353
Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
Tape the split ring with electrical tape if you are worried about it comming loose. If it is a bow shackle just make sure it is tight with pliers.

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Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:33 am 
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Joined: Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:35 pm
Posts: 313
Location: Lake Champlain, Vermont
In my life I've caught two instances where the rings were completely missing from the pin. The latest was this season when just walking around my 17 looking at everything. One of the two bridal pins was missing the ring. My jaw dropped. No clue how this happened or when!
Prior to that, I was checking my Ultralight plane (preflight) and same thing. One of the foot pedals to the rudder had a missing ring! I was in shock. Could have been anything including some person.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 8:44 am 
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Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:46 pm
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A chance of this happening is why I got the bigger circular rings with the end bent toward the center. Like this:
Image
Stop the possibility of a "roll out". Or, more likely problem, me being sloppy on installing it only halfway. I can look and see if the ring is completely spun on with these.

If the ring was completely rolled on, it isn't likely that it spun off when you were out, except by extreme fluke. I don't think there's much possibility of a pin failing.

There was a thread about boats being left on the beach and the rings being tampered with and masts coming down later. These rings are "mischief attractors".

As TM says, tape the rings or work through a checklist to check the rings. I am always forgetting some detail...

I assume everything else was found and in good condition except the ring and the pin?


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 4:43 pm 
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Joined: Tue Aug 10, 2010 3:09 pm
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That's great advice. As I mentioned above in my edit of the piece. It turned out it wasn't the pin that was the problem, but the bow shackle that holds the bridle wires. That must have come unscrewed. That was the part that vanished in the wipeout. I don't want that ever to happen again.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 9:10 pm 
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Joined: Thu Nov 29, 2007 12:08 am
Posts: 144
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
It happened to me one on my Getaway.
Was on my way out, getting out of the harbor, and the mast went down on us....
Some stuff got damage, but not too bad. Never knew what happen, I suspect someone messed up with the o'ring the night before on the beach, but I will never know for sure.

Since that time, I ALWAYS check all the rigging before I start sailing. I guess this is one of those things that has to happen, so that you can remember to check everything. Same as for the plugs.... you have to forget them once, to remember then after that !


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 7:57 am 
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Joined: Wed Sep 30, 2009 12:25 pm
Posts: 183
Location: Georgia
Whenever I leave a boat on a beach, public or private, I always tie the side stay clevis pin rings with several wraps of wax'd whipping line and anywhere else creeps, er, citizens might have mischievous fingers. Someone would have to go out of their way to cut the whipping line (not impossible), but it helps. You can purchase bow shackles where the pin has a hole drilled through the head. A small electrical 'zip tie' can be used to secure the pin to the shackle and there's nothing to rust.

Plus a throughout walk-around before sailing. Same with my motorcycle.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 8:01 am 
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Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 10:46 pm
Posts: 470
The bow shackle!

Had one come partly un-done and got this:

Image

Wichard Captive Bow Shackle.

The screw has a self-locking feature and also won't fall out if un-done.


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PostPosted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 10:17 am 
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Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 12:55 am
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Location: Rapid City, South Dakota
If you get in the habbit of checking the pins and rings before you go sailing you should never have a problem. If you tape your rings, you will notice if the tape is gone, someone messed with it. There aren't to many shackles on the boat, so just tighten them each time.

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Hobie Fleet 198, Rapid City, SD


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