Need mast hinge repair advice

[DavidF]

I headed over to my boat on what was one of the most perfect summer evenings for a sail. When I got to the buoy, the mast was down, hanging over the starboard side of the boat.

It appears as though the clevis pin at the base of the port side stay came out. The split ring was sitting about 6 inches from the chainplate on the deck.

The mast has a hinge and that is where it failed. Here is a picture of the damage.

The previous hinge was a Dwyer. I know that I need a new hinge and also need a new cast end cap for the lower mast section. I can't seem to find a place to order the end caps.

Would it make sense to just order a new hinge from DR and find an end cap, or would it make more sense to by the 'Daysailer Mast Tabernacle' from DR? The latter appears to include fittings or caps for each mast section. My mast appears to be fine, so I would prefer a solution that doesn't require cutting the mast or drilling any more holes in the mast.

The more that I look at it, I think that the latter solution is the way to go. Any thoughts?

Either way, hopefully this will encourage the rest of you to check your rigging attachments frequently and maybe secure them with rigging tape too.. I am just glad that it failed while noone was on board.

David.

[jdoorly]

The mangalednessitude of your hinge doesn't look that bad to me. I would just hammer the upper and lower back into a "U" shape and replace the broken casting, unless, of course, you feel better replacing the entirety. Anyway, that's what I did when my mast went down, and it lasted until the mast went down again. The second time bent the hinge plates in multiple planes. I designed a stronger hinge after that.

[jeadstx]

I just bought a hinge assembly from D&R for use on my Rhodes 19 I'm restoring (DS & R19 use the same one). It is a good quality item. It came with the hinge and both mast step castings. You could straighten what you have, but I don't think it will be as strong as a new one.

John

[DavidF]

Are the castings already drilled, or do you have to drill them yourself? Also, any suggestions on what kind of screws to use?

Thanks,

David.

[Alan]

I bought a complete hinge (top and bottom) with one base casting from Dwyer Mast. The casting comes attached to the hinge with bolts and self-locking nuts.

The separate base castings on the Dwyer website don't look like they're drilled in the pictures, but I'm sure the folks there (or at D&R) would tell you if you emailed them. I've found that they're helpful and know their stuff.

[jeadstx]

The ones from D&R are bolted to the hinge plates. The castings are not drilled so they can be matched to existing holes if present. It comes with the attachment screws and instructions.

John

[Alan]

Having pawed through my box of shiny stuff a little more, I found the separate base casting that I bought from Dwyer when I bought the hinge assembly. It isn't drilled, but it has dimples in the casting that align with the holes in the drilled step that came with the hinge.

This is for a Dwyer DM-284 mast.

[DavidF]

Thanks for the great info all.

David.

[DavidF]

Boat is all fixed and I was able to get out for a great sail on Sunday evening!

I ended up replacing the mast hinge with a new one from DR marine. The install went smoothly despite having to drill out 2 of the old screws that held it in place.

In case someone else finds themselves in this situation. One thing that I didn't realize at the time that I ordered the new hinge was that after drilling the new holes, I needed to tap new screw threads. Not a big deal, but you will need a tap to do it.

Oh yeah, when you raise the mast, make sure that the main halyard is secured or it will zip up to the top of the mast and you will have to drop and raise it again! ; /

As I was out sailing solo on a beautiful evening with nice wind, I realized how much I love the DSII. It moves along nicely in the wind and is very predictable in the way that it reacts to gusts, etc.

Thanks again for the advice, the repair went smoothly.