Hey Uncle Wakefield, remember us? Wife and I were the "sailors" when the Bravo A-Frame went TangoU.
To all others, to be certain, it was the left A-Frame arm hull mount point inserts that failed. And upon close inspection, the two hex head bolts that fix the A-Frame to the hull are intact. Both of the brass (I think) hull inserts fatigued and broke in their middle, right at the points where the hex head bolts ended inside the insert. Part of the inserts are still on the bolts - about one inch worth. If these inserts are indeed brass, then Hobie could consider an upgrade to stainless to ensure this high stress part does not fatigue to failure due to constant flexing. Alternatively, longer hex bolts that reach all the way through the inserts would also work to ensure the inserts are not flex stressed.
Looking at the hull were the inserts were, the outside insert hole is just slightly deformed at the top of the hole, possibly from the trajectory taken by the A-Frame arm/bolt/insert section on its way up and over during failure. Otherwise the hole is not deformed. Further, the insert hole is all the way through into the hull as one would expect. The other half of that insert has broken off and is more than likely inside the hull rolling around. While part of the insert did rip out with the screw, the "head" of the insert did not.
At the other hull insert hole closest to the center of the hull it appears to have not fallen into the hull, and instead, remains in the insert hole. This half-of-an insert remains in its original position. There is no hull damage around it.
It appeared to me that the hull integrity and hull mount points are ok. Thus the question is, can those inserts be replaced from the inside? And if they can be replaced, can Hobie or a repair shop do this, or is it a DIY project? One can imagine that if the area inside the hull, behind the A-Frame mount points, is accessible, the insert fix could be feasible. On the chance that there is no access to that area, then what is recommended to replace those inserts?
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