Here’s some info from our just-finished transom/backstay chainplate reinforcement project. Two years ago we added a hydraulic backstay adjuster which has been a great addition for rig adjustment while sailing. The downside was that this season I found the transom pulling off of the knees holding it to the the hull. Seems like upwind work with the backstay cranked in stronger winds and choppy seas was more than the existing build was happy with. You can see the gap forming between the repair that a PO had made (looks like gelcoat that had been smeared at the top of the starboard knee). There’s also a small gap showing at the top of the port knee.
We pulled the chainplate and cleaned and inspected it and the hardware and all looked good.
Next we installed a 3/16” sheet of fiberglass board between the two knees with thickened epoxy and reinforced the tabbing between the knees and the transom with some fiberglass strips.
We re-used the same holes through the transom, just drilling through the additional sheet where the chainplate and Hydrovane backing plate screws go.
Here’s a shot after we re-attached everything. The chainplate still has the idiosycracies that have been noted in other threads, mainly that the tang could align better with the line of the backstay, but since it looked good after we cleaned and inspected it I decided to keep using it rather than chaging it.
It’ll be interesting to see how this reinforcement holds up. I noticed right away that the backstay held tension better than it had previously when I increased pressure after re-attaching everything. I only use a piece of tape as a guage, but I could tell just be feel and where the tape was that it was holding tension better. Hopefully it stays that way with more wind and wave pressure on it this season. I’ll make an update if anything noteworthy happens.
We pulled the chainplate and cleaned and inspected it and the hardware and all looked good.
Next we installed a 3/16” sheet of fiberglass board between the two knees with thickened epoxy and reinforced the tabbing between the knees and the transom with some fiberglass strips.
We re-used the same holes through the transom, just drilling through the additional sheet where the chainplate and Hydrovane backing plate screws go.
Here’s a shot after we re-attached everything. The chainplate still has the idiosycracies that have been noted in other threads, mainly that the tang could align better with the line of the backstay, but since it looked good after we cleaned and inspected it I decided to keep using it rather than chaging it.
It’ll be interesting to see how this reinforcement holds up. I noticed right away that the backstay held tension better than it had previously when I increased pressure after re-attaching everything. I only use a piece of tape as a guage, but I could tell just be feel and where the tape was that it was holding tension better. Hopefully it stays that way with more wind and wave pressure on it this season. I’ll make an update if anything noteworthy happens.
