Late last night in the rain I decided to step my mast for the first time. When I went to tension the DS rod I noticed that for the aluminum V Bar to be tight I need to thread my DS rod almost completely out of the casting.

Am I missing something obvious? I didn't check the 4 nuts holding the v bar for tension but they should be fine since the bar is seized onto the stainless bolts.

I'll take another look but is my best option to add a few washers to the V bar casting to make the rod a bit longer?

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Bob Miller
1983 P16 Sail # 7312
"Miller Time" A work in progress; out of the water for 16 years
Barnegat Bay NJ
Beach Cat Lesson #1 - A free cat isn't
Find more Prindles on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/173120656090532/
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Bob, I'm not really familiar with the Prindles, do you know if the V brace strap is the same as the older Nacra's?
I have 5 V brace straps from Nacras, one measures, (from butt end to butt end as installed) 74"(N5.0), one 70"(unknown), 2@72"(N5.2 or 5.7), and one around 73", but a much deeper "V", don't now what it came off. The only things the same between them is the 3 hole spacing to bolt them on, & the physical width & thickness of the material. I also have some slightly bent DS rods, one I cut, & one of the older skinnier rods, no two are the same length.
I don't know if specs changed, slightly different depths of "V" were used to make the truss stronger etc. Of course if the V is deeper, you need a longer DS rod.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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The 76 P16 I just picked up is missing the screw that attached the strapping to the DS Rod. Without it, there is about a 1/2 inch gap until they meet. It also looks like the rod is thread pretty far down as is though I have not done a complete inspection.

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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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