Hi, I purchased a 1970 hobie 14, 2 years ago. I thought I would be smart and replace all the cables, shackles and other hardwear. I orderd the parts from a hobie dealer in the seattle area. They sold me the parts I asked for by description (i.e. I asked for a mast top shackel to hold the 3 stays.) I got all the parts and just last weekend (less than 1 year from replacment) The mast top shackel failed in light winds. I demasted broke 2 battens and riped the sail. I always inspect the shackels and cables before launch and every thing seemed fine at the time of inspection.
This really makes me mad. It was not my fault. The company sold me a undersize shackel. This could have killed someone! So this brings me to my questions. What size shackel should I buy to replace the broken one? Is there any small backup I could add if that shackel fails again? Has any one else had a similar experience? What did you do about it?
Thanks
AtomicFlx
I am sure glad you made your post. I went out to inspect my H14 and found that I had a shackle with a 3/16 inch pin. I also noticed that the pin was half worn through. Hobie parts list calls for a 1/4 inch pin shackle. I will replace my shackle with one that has at least a 1/4 inch pin. The hole in the tang on the mast looks big enough to accept a 1/2 inch pin so I should be able to rig any shackle that will receive the ends of the stays.
Thanks for saving me from what you went through.
Greg H14,H16
A 5/16
bow shackle is the industry standard for the shroud/forestay attachment to the mast horn and a 1/4
shackle is the appropriate size for the trap wires.
Mark A. Michaelsen ~MM~
SPS Website: http://www.sailingproshop.com
Small Craft Advisories Sailing Centers
1244 Pacific Coast Highway
Seal Beach, Ca 90740
(562) 594-8749 Voice
(562) 594-0208 FAX
(800) 354-7245 Order Line
(714) 238-0925 International Voice Mail/Pager
Mark Michaelsen
www.sailingproshop.com
(800) 354-7245
I would get a copy of the Hobie catalog, either from a local dealer or request one from the Hobie site. In the back they have a breakdown of all the parts with parts numbers. Hobie also makes a rigging/tuning/assembly manual that should have anything the catalog doesn't have. I think the're about $8.00
Also good sources are MM (Sailing Pro Shop) and Murrays. An email or phone call to either should clear up any hardware questions you may have.
Good Luck,
Lance
Hobie 18 Magnum
St. Petersburg FL
A Quality 3/16" bow schackle has a safe working load of 1200 lbs and a breaking strength of ~2400 lbs. Seems like this should be plenty for a Hobie 14.
H 14 shrouds are either 3/32 or 1/8 316 stainless. These have a breaking strength of 980 and 1780 respectively.
Seems to me a good 3/16 schackle should be fine? Are you sure you did not ovetighten or under tighten it?
Eric
Never depend on dealers to sell you the correct parts. You learned this the hard way. Always check it yourself, then double check, and check again.
I've been hosed far to many times, not necessarily by my dealer, but by others whom you'd think should know the correct answer but didn't.
It becomes especially important with the kind of safety issues that you ran into.
By the way, did the shackel actually break, or did the pin work its way out of the shackel? That's the other thing thats recommended is a seizing strand to keep the pin from unwinding itself.
Fair winds,
Tim Johnson
Hobie 20 #541
Bald Eagle Yacht Club, Fleet 52
White Bear Lake, MN
Assume you have a standard H14 versus the Turbo. Hobie parts catalog specifies a 1/4 inch bow shackle for the standard rig and a 5/16 inch bow shackle for the Turbo. I believe shrouds, forestay and trap lines all connect to one shackle on the Turbo (the mast tang only has one hole).
There's more to the equation than working load vs. applied load. every part on every boat in the world is constantly moving somewhat, and when moving under load chafe is created. larger diameter pins (or shackles, etc..) resist chafe better than smaller pins because as the size goes up, the resistive area increases as a multiple of pi.
once a pin starts to wear away, the wear accelerates rapidly because the resistive area decreases until finally there isn't enough cross section left to withstand the load. snappo.
there was a study a few years ago, published in pro boat builder, that stated the dynamic loads on a boat change (from no load to full load) upto 30 times a second.
for the parts diagrams and to order the Hobie catalog.
Lance
Hobie 18 Magnum
St. Petersburg FL
www.hobieparts.com is not yet active.
Try www.hobiecat.com
Matt Miller
mmiller@hobieco.com
Hobie Cat Company
After reading your post, I replaced the 3/16 inch shackle on my H14 with a shackle with a 5/16 inch pin. My wires and shackle are oversized. I went sailing yesterday with a first time sailor, and I demasted in a two knot breeze. Fortunately the mast went down gently and no damage was done to the boat or crew. It turned out that when I lowered the shroud adjuster cover, I must have dislodged the ring from the clevis pin. I suspect the ring was not in very good shape. I don't know why a new 3/16 inch shackle failed in low winds on your boat, and I bet it went to the bottom so we will never know.
Anyway, just thought I'd let you know about this.
Greg, H14,H16