[Rhodes22-list] Lost My Headstay and Furler

[Peter Nyberg]

I went down to Groton today to do a boat project and go for a short afternoon sail.  Winds were light and I was just puttering along in Fisher’s Island Sound when there was a loud snap and the next thing I knew my 175 genoa was floating in the water along side my boat.  The bottom was still attached at the bow, but the top was no longer attached to the top of the mast.

This is a CDI furler, and an IMF mast.

I managed to get the motor lowered and started, the main furled, and then the genoa stashed along the port gunwale.  The very top of the roller reefing assembly was still dragging in the water behind the boat, but I was pretty sure that it would remain clear of the outboard prop.

With all that done, I was able to motor calmly back to the marina and pick up my mooring.  Before leaving the boat, I lashed the genoa more securely, disconnected it at the bow, and shifted the whole package forward a bit so that both ends were out of the water.  What I didn’t think to do, for some reason, was to inspect the top of the furler assembly or the top of the mast (using binoculars) to get a better sense of what had failed and what might be required to put things right.

I have disconnected the furler assembly from the mast several times in the past, but now can’t really recall what the connection looked like.  In looking at some things I found online, it would seem that I should expect to see some bits of rigging hardware (part of the actual forestay) extending above the plastic top cap of the CDI assembly.  I’m pretty sure that at the moment there is nothing that extends beyond the top cap, which if true would suggest that the forestay itself has failed.  

Of course the good news in all of this is that the mast has remained more or less vertical through the entire process.

I won’t be able to pull the boat out of the water, drop the mast, and inspect things more closely until Monday.  In the mean time, I’m left to wonder what hoops I’ll need to jump through to get my boat ready to sail again.  Any insights or advice from the list would be greatly appreciated.  And, as always, a picture is worth 1000 words.

Thanks,

Peter Nyberg
Coventry, CT
s/v Silverheels (1988/2016)