Not a good day. Took a friend out for a sail in 11 mph winds, came about to a port tack, and the mast snapped off when the sail caught the wind. It snapped inside the sleeve right at the base of the furling drum. It snapped the retaining clip, broke the edge off the retaining plate, and bent the mast bearing plate. I couldn't get the mast out, so we had to pedal back, wrestling the mast the whole way back. When we got back, I unhooked the sail, pulling it off along with the top half of the mast.
Here's where it broke.
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dougc405As you can see, the retaining plate snapped. That tells me for sure that the mast was properly seated.
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dougc405, on Flickr
Harder to see, but the retaining clip was bent up and whatever held it down is gone.
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dougc405Finally, you can see that the bearing plate is bent up.
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dougc405Already reported to the dealer. I hope Hobie can turn this around quickly or my season will be over.
I had seen several reports of '13 masts breaking. Never thought it would happen to me. Entirely unpleasant experience.