Yeah, sounds like it might have been getting to that point. Maybe better for it to fail on a hoist than underway in heavy air, too.
In my case, amazingly, it turned out the pole was fixable with a fiberglass collar around the break. The owner was surprisingly calm about the whole thing. Apparently he had switched from a metal pole to carbon specifically so that an incident like that would break the pole rather than bring the rig down. Sam 35-3 SF On Tue, May 24, 2016 at 4:40 PM, <randy.staff...@comcast.net> wrote: > Ouch is right :) That was about a $500 lesson, but who knows how much > longer a 44-year old extruded plastic luff support system would have lasted > anyway. It had some other visible deterioration. But probably not as > expensive a lesson as replacing a carbon fiber spin pole :) > > Cheers, > Randy > > ------------------------------ > *From: *"Sam Wheeler via CnC-List" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > *To: *"cnc-list" <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> > *Cc: *"Sam Wheeler" <samwheeler.s...@gmail.com> > *Sent: *Tuesday, May 24, 2016 4:38:50 PM > *Subject: *Re: Stus-List Head Foil Feed Funnel > > Ouch. > > My version of Lesson 1 was when I was in college and an older alumnus > invited our team to race with him on his Serendipity 43. We went out for a > practice day, and as team captain and one of the only people with > non-dinghy race experience, I ended up as the de facto crew chief. > > We get the spinnaker up and call for a jibe. Foredeck crew dips the pole > and gets it hooked up on the new guy, but it's not coming aft, so I yell to > the 6'8" dude on the primary winch to keep cranking. > > The ensuing explosion of carbon fiber shards taught me a valuable lesson > about baby stays. > > Sam > 35-3 > SF > > On Mon, May 23, 2016 at 9:13 PM, Randy Stafford via CnC-List < > cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > >> It's in 18 feet of murky questionable marina water that I'd prefer not to >> swim in, even if I could see my hand in front of my face :) >> >> Turns out I got great customer service from Head Foil. I sent them a >> picture and description of the half I didn't drop overboard, and they dated >> it to the first years of their company - early 70s, meaning my luff support >> system was probably original. They looked but couldn't find a replacement >> part. So I'm getting a new Head Foil system after a 44-year service life >> on the previous one. Not sure the replacement feed funnel have would have >> been a complete fix anyway, because some of the plastic extrusion >> underneath it cracked and broke off. Without a new system I'm worried that >> sharp plastic edges might cut luff tapes of headsails being hoisted. The >> new Head Foil system is significantly less expensive than competing systems >> or furlers. I called / emailed the company on Saturday morning and they >> called me back within a few hours. My new system shipped today. I'll >> report back after installing and using it. >> >> There's actually more to the story. Went out for a leisure sail with >> family, and the genoa foot fouled on a horn cleat during the hoist. My >> daughter's boyfriend (big strong kid) kept hauling on the halyard until the >> feed funnel blew apart. Both halves were still dangling by one of two >> screws holding them together (the other screw blew out somewhere during the >> hoist). When we got back to the marina I went to take all the parts off >> the forestay to see if I could find replacement screws and re-assemble the >> whole thing, and that's when I dropped the part overboard. But I'm not >> sure reassembly would have worked anyway because of the broken plastic. >> The lessons: (1) if a sail is not going up like you expect, something is >> wrong, and continuing to haul on the halyard will only break something; (2) >> be careful not to drop shit overboard :) >> >> Cheers, >> Randy >> >> > _______________________________________________ > > This list is supported by the generous donations of our members. If you > like what we do, please help us pay for our costs by donating. All > Contributions are greatly appreciated! > >
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