Broken head stay

[Joe A.]

Broken headstay

By this time tomorrow I will have talked to many experts and will eventually write a book on this subject, but for now I am dumbfounded and need help on what to do about the broken headstay on my 1987 e26 (fractional rig).<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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Looking skyward with my binos it looks like the stay cable has seperated from the Harken “upper swage eye”. Thank God I looked up! We had a little difficulty rolling up the jib last night and I suspected a ‘stretchy’ furling line with a broken core. Boy was I wrong!<o></o>
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The jib halyard is the only thing that was holding up mast! What can I expect to be the repair scenario? Does the mast need to be dropped? What is a ballpark guess on the expected steps and cost? I love to do repairs because it’s fun and I like to save $ but I’m expecting this one is ‘over my head’.<o></o>
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I’ll be contacting the yacht sales company that I just bought the boat from in March. They have been good to me but I expect this one will be on my dime. EY.o members have been a wealth of info in my short association and once again I am asking for input to help me determine the best course of action. <o></o>
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Joe Antz<o></o>
‘Half Fast’ e26-2<o></o>

 

[jkenan]

You may not need to drop the mast, but the stay will definitely have to come down. If the yard has a bucket (similar to the telephone company trucks that access tops of phone poles via a 'bucket'), or another means to access the masthead without dropping the rig, they can remove the stay provided a halyard or other line serves to secure the mast. Hourly yard rates would certainly apply.

I'm curious about the difficulty you had furling the headsail the day before. It may have been that the furler jammed on the stay somehow, and turned the stay as the sail was being furled. That could feasibly cause enough strain on the stay to make a swage fail. I would interrogate the furler.

 

[CSMcKillip]

A new forstay on our old 25 was 164.00 with hardware. We lowered the mast and with 3 friends you can lower the mast make the repair and get it back up in a day. We removed our furler and added a harken carbo foil. We raced so the extra weight saved helped out.

With a A-frame you could do it by yourself. I don't know much about the 26, is the mast deck stepped?

 

[Loren Beach]

Ouch!

IIRC, your upper swage should be a standard swage (or equivalent) connector.
On our Harken Mk2, only the lower connection, inside the drum assembly, was part of the Harken kit.
If somehow the swivel jams and tries to rotate the stay, I could see it stranding and failing...

As to what to do next, there's the immediate problem and the longer-range problem.
Long range, at 23 years, any original standing rigging is about eight years overdue for replacement.

In your place, I would view this as an omen that the re-rig is due, now. But then you knew I'd say that...

IF... you have real proof that your boat was re-rigged X number of year recently, they maybe skipped the forestay because it would cost extra to R&R the Harken furler. Secondly, perhaps the rig is sound otherwise, but something specific to the furler caused the stress and subsequent break.

To address the headstay first, you need to support the mast with both the jib and spinn halyard to a strong point forward. Then use another halyard to hoist someone up to disconnect and lower the headstay, furler and all.
Once it's layed out on the dock, probably with a rigger to perform the inspection, you will know what it needs next.

Harken makes an excellent product and I have received out-of-warranty service from them in the past, but not for anything as complex as a furler.

As pointed out so well by others, one of best moves may just be to find a local crane and lower the rig for a thorough inspection while also fixing the forestay and furler.

If you get some pics of the problem please do post them.

On the positive side, the mast stayed up and there were no injuries.

Best wishes,
Loren

 

[jkenan]

Harken makes an excellent product and I have received out-of-warranty service from them in the past, but not for anything as complex as a furler.

As mentioned in my recent post regarding my E29 refit, my furling unit failed on me during sea trials when my reefed headsail spun out in 20 knots. I dissembled the MKII unit, and sent the drum assembly back to Harken. They discovered a PO had 'upgraded' the unit by fitting a newer drum and improvising the torque tube connection using longer screws so the new drum would 'attach' to the torque tube (Yikes!). They replaced the drum with the proper part, replaced all bearings, and inspected and serviced the whole unit, for $50, including shipping. My point is, Harken's service is excellent! You should let them know what happened.