Genoa Furler Pin Failure - Mast came down.

[Havenfboat]

Yesterday, my Admiral and I took out our 2010 26M "Havenfboat"for an afternoon of sailing in what was forecast 8knots, gusting to 11knots all day. A nice day for a leisurely sail. We motored out of Wiarton, ON to Big Bay Then we turned around for a leisurely sail back to Wiarton from the Georgian Bay / Colpoys Bay islands. Winds started to pick up as soon as we raised the main, with waves developing to all whitecaps within minutes! We had only the main up for about 5 minutes, just getting our bearings, when the entire mast and boom came slowly down. Luckily we were on port tack, and the mast dropped into the water. The boom hit our dodger supports, preventing the boom from hitting us and the control pedestal.
Upon taking a very thorough look at the condition of everything, I attribute the event to a failure of the quick release pin with round wire retainer that came with the boat from the PO. Little did I think that it would be capable of breaking loose. It appears that the slow fall was because the roller furler line (only 3/16") held the furler and mast up until it too eventually failed under load. I searched this site today to see if anyone else had experienced a similar event. I found a thread started by FlyboyTR back on December 27, 2015 titled "26 Classic: Forward Stay Pin Snaps Under Load" with good recommendations for that specific pin.

[sailboatmike]

When I did my recent rigging check I found a couple of interesting things

1) I presume I had the original pin, so it would be now 22 years old and its was chrome plated bronze, not really the material I would recommend
2) The pin showed some wear and scoring, not huge and I would of expected as much from such a soft material going through stainless steel rigging holes.

I replaced the pin with a stainless steel pin and new retaining clip.

You will have a spare Jib halyard that is doing nothing, I always ensure I have either this or the spinnaker halyard attached to the pulpit with a bit of tension on it, always better to be safe than sorry I figure and if the foretay lets go I know the mast will stay up.

As for cause, it could be the rigging was too loose in a previous life and the pin has been taking shock loads from the rigging for years.

As a bit of hindsight I posted on here not more than a couple of weeks ago about how you cant trust that previous owners have done the right thing, the PO of my boat had made my rigging totally unsafe with his lazy or penny pinching ways, rather than pay out the $100 odd for a new forestay, he had used a couple of cable clamps to reattach a broken swage at the top.

For the few cents or pennies its worth replace the pins and pin retainers, I think it cost me a grand total of about $20 and thats cheap insurance for a $2000 plus mast blank plus fitting, nevermind the safety implications

Im glad to hear you are safe, but Im wondering about having the motor deactivator key on your wrist, if you go overboard how will anyone else on the boat turn it around to get you back especially if your under sail

[Patbrogan]

Just put in the new pin from blue water yachts. $5. Much better and safer. Can't figure out how to add photo.
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BOW PIN










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Description



This is a much easier and less frustrating pin to use for attaching the headstay (or furler) to the bow chain plate. It is 1 1/2" long and has about a 1" head, so it is easy to hold/handle. Some headstay turnbuckles have a metric hole (6mm) which will need to drilled out just a little to 1/4" size, this takes just a minute. NEVER USE A STRAIGHT QUICK PIN OR "BALL LOCK" TYPE PIN ON YOUR HEADSTAY. THEY WILL FALL OUT AND YOUR MAST WILL COME DOWN!!


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[Herschel]

You will have a spare Jib halyard that is doing nothing, I always ensure I have either this or the spinnaker halyard attached to the pulpit with a bit of tension on it, always better to be safe than sorry I figure and if the forestay lets go I know the mast will stay up.

I tried dong this a few years back, but kept getting the halyard fouled in my jib when using the roller furler.

[Russ]

I added an additional mast hound ABOVE the original. I ran a safety line down to the pulpit. It makes me sleep better.

--Russ

[133bhp]

put a small loop in the halyard near to where its fixed on the pulpit, put a bungee between the two, it keeps tension to stop fouling/not pull on the mast, and still allow backstay adjustment (if have one)

[Havenfboat]

RussMT, I have a "spare" forestay that I tried to figure out how to attach and not get caught up in the furler. I will be adding an additional mast hound for sure and will now always run with my safety forestay. Thanks for the solution. I've been looking at a lot of pictures of bowsprits to see if I needed one for that other forestay. Highlander's rigging is awesome but way above my needs. He sailed around here in Georgian Bay and would know what can kick up in a heartbeat.

Patbrogan, thanks for the BWY Bow Pin lead, ordering one of these for sure!

[paul I]

Im glad to hear you are safe, but Im wondering about having the motor deactivator key on your wrist, if you go overboard how will anyone else on the boat turn it around to get you back especially if your under sail

The idea is, you are supposed to attach a lanyard to that safety key with the other end of the lanyard attached to yourself. That way, should you be alone and go overboard, the motor on the boat stops and you can swim back to it. My Honda also has a spare safety key that snaps into a holder on the remote, which can be used by a passenger to start the engine and turn the boat around. That would cover the situation you described.

[paul I]

I added an additional mast hound ABOVE the original. I ran a safety line down to the pulpit. It makes me sleep better.

--Russ

I just did that this year. I found that even after adding the additional hound 2 feet up the mast, the halyard can loosen and get caught in the furler (because it did). Right now its tied only to a cleat on the mast itself, the way you would typically fasten it for the MRS. I'm thinking of running it aft at the end of the season, or the beginning of the next.

[Havenfboat]

In our world, the kill key lanyard is always around the wrist of the person at the helm whether on the boat or in the dinghy with the outboard. Never thought about how to start the engine when the operator goes overboard. I think that it's a good idea for a spare, and as our life jackets have a mesh pocket, I will be sure that all life jackets (really only the Admiral and myself) have spares in the pocket. Scary thought but if anyone at the helm goes overboard here in Georgian Bay in the spring, there isn't a lot of time until hypothermia gets you.

[Highlander]

Those quick pins should never be used for things like mast base or boom connections or fore stay connections either
I only use 2 of them on my 4 ft bowsprit at the locking point but they r double locked by using big plastic ties on the ding ring & as their is 2 of them chances of them both failing at the same time r slim but I also do have a bobstay as a third back-up
When I first started using these quick pins one failed on me with in one week of purchase the little spring loaded ball,s on the end of the pointed end of the pin had fallen out !
so thats why they r now also zipp tied

So b forewarned don,t use them for anything that is a safety factor
just sayin thats all

J
PS U r not the first one this has happened too other,s on here have also posted such failures I,m surprised people on here r still using them for such purposes

[Highlander]

my lanard is attached to the pedestall & ign. key if the weather is bad enough to b worrying about a M/B I make sure I,m strapped in with a safety harness & spare ign. key & lanard r allways onboard with attached safety floats
just my preference

J

[dxg4848]

Im glad to hear you are safe, but Im wondering about having the motor deactivator key on your wrist, if you go overboard how will anyone else on the boat turn it around to get you back especially if your under sail

The idea is, you are supposed to attach a lanyard to that safety key with the other end of the lanyard attached to yourself. That way, should you be alone and go overboard, the motor on the boat stops and you can swim back to it. My Honda also has a spare safety key that snaps into a holder on the remote, which can be used by a passenger to start the engine and turn the boat around. That would cover the situation you described.

I don't see how it can be useful except for jet ski. I never use safety lanyard. It is too short and inconvenient in general to be practical on 26' boat. How can you move around or do anything with safety lanyard attached to your wrist.

Also I believe that wind/current moves boat faster that person can swim. Unless boat is anchored there is very little chance to swim to it in case one falls out. Then if you do fall out and manage to swim to your boat how are you planning on getting inside if you are by yourself and it is not dead come conditions. If you fall out you are screwed one way or another!

[dxg4848]

I added an additional mast hound ABOVE the original. I ran a safety line down to the pulpit. It makes me sleep better.

--Russ

I have the same setup. I installed SS eye-bolt through the top of the mast and ran safety line to the pulpit. Make sure you use low-stretch line. Because if it rains regular line gets wet and stretches and can get caught in RF.

[paul I]

I don't see how it can be useful except for jet ski. I never use safety lanyard. It is too short and inconvenient in general to be practical on 26' boat. How can you move around or do anything with safety lanyard attached to your wrist.

Also I believe that wind/current moves boat faster that person can swim. Unless boat is anchored there is very little chance to swim to it in case one falls out. Then if you do fall out and manage to swim to your boat how are you planning on getting inside if you are by yourself and it is not dead come conditions. If you fall out you are screwed one way or another!

I never said I attached a lanyard to myself... only saying what the idea behind it is. I never go out single handed, and I am seldom if ever go out when conditions may turn bad. I'm a day sailor. I agree its an inconvenience. I mainly keep mine attached to the ignition key floatie. If I ever were to attempt a single hand cruise or I thought it might get bad enough to warrant it, I would try to attach that lanyard to my person though, just in case. Besides the guy falling off the boat isn't necessarily the only victim. What about whatever is in the path of the boat stuck at full throttle acceleration with no driver?

I do think however that if my life depended on it, I could swim several hundred yards to a floating boat. Current and wind may not take it further away from you, it may even push it closer to you, who knows?

I also think I can reach the boarding ladder of my when in the water to allow me to lower it and use it to step back on the boat. I think its all doable.