bluelaser2 wrote:
It seems absolutely obvious to me that some substantial % of mast failures are occurring because the downhaul cleat rivet is damaging the outer surface of the masts. When I inspected my nearly new mast, there was already a distinct wear-line forming and I could easily feel a burred surface of the rivet, making a nice cutting tool for the purpose. Hobie needs to correct this design flaw if it's not already been done- the sail hardly needs a downhaul adjustment anyway since without a boom its always deeply cambered. I removed my cleat with zero performance hit.
Amen!
I noticed the same thing after the first season with my 2015 AI2.
And the only reason I noticed it was that the cheap metal they used to attach the cleat totally corroded out - leaving the cleat half-detached:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBRhttps://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBRThe wear on my mast was not extreme, but still was pretty obvious:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP ... JaRW5TYzBRGiving letter grades to my sail and sail bat, I would give it D- for materials and D for execution. ... I really don't know where all this "Hobie Quality" stuff comes from. ..... Warranty replacement so far, pretty decent.... But Quality ???
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2015 AI in "Dune" - "The Grey Pig"
2017 Trailex 450 Trailer
Pre-September 2015 cradles
(anybody want to buy a slightly-used AI SpinKit?)
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