help me please

hi there
yesterday during a sail in choppy waters and wind i broke the bow tang of my h14 turbo.
i was very lucky cause i wasn't so far and i could bring the boat back to the beach....
now i have 2 big problems
1) the screws are sized and i wasn't able to remove them
2) since my hobie is an "88 model and uses the four holes bow tang (not the new one with just one hole) here in italy is quite impossible to find one before 2\3 weeks and i have my first race next week end....
here the regata are very very rare 1\2 per year and i don't want to miss this one.
please heelp me to find a solution,if someone can send me the pieces via usps or ups in three days i'll pay by trasfering money from my bank,or via paypal,or whatever,including something for the disturb...i really need this piece!!!!!
hope someone can help me....
max

Please forgive my ignorance, but what is a bowtang?

_________________
Dave

Truth is treason in the empire of lies.

Campaign for Liberty

There is a small square block of aluminum 1/4 inch thick that supports the bow tangs in a 14. The older model boats used 4 screws... newer ones use a single screw as used on the Hobie 16. Get the Hobie 16 tang and screw. Drill and tap in the center of the four existing holes.

20120000 Tang

8030301 Screw (5/16-18 X 1-1/4 RHMS SS)

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

thanx for the reply....
i have just asked to the hobie's italian seller about use the one hole instead the 4 holes...and he said me no way.
he said me that if i 'll use the one hole bow tang i'll broke the fiberglass where it's screw....
in fact he doesn't speak me about an alluminium block under the bow tang,he said me that screws directly into the glass,but it's sound very very strange and dangerous.
if u are sure i'll do the work asap...
thanx a lot
max

Block or no block?

The US Made boats have the block. I do not believe that a European boat would be different. You can drill into the hull and it will be obvious.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

Hi,

If you do not want to drill just to check the presence of the aluminium block, you can check by measuring the electrical resistance between two screws. If they are screwed into an aluminium block there is an electrical path beween any couple of screws and your multimeter will show a very low resistance, probably zero ohms. If the screws are screwed into the fiberglass you'll find an infinite resistance, if your fiberglass is dry, or something very high, if your fiberglass is wet, probably some MegaOhms in this case.

Notice that you should be able to measure with no bow tang otherwise it will provide the electrical path itself even if no aluminium block is present below.

However if you are still unable to remove the bow tang and it is broken in a way that there is no electrical path between two screws you can still measure as explained.

Bye,
Fabio