Broken anchorsprit - Forensics

Alan · August 13, 2006, 1:37am

Posted by Alan (akusinitz@…>)

At the risk of embarassing myself I thought I’d describe my mishap in
case the construction of the anchorsprit on F-33s and various other
models of Freedom is of interest.

My sad story:
Last year I got the anchor caught on a cable and put a fair amount
of stress the the sprit. I noticed what I believes at the time was
gelcoat crazing near the point of the sprit where the opening begins.
Didn;t give it much thought. But added a stainless steel support under
the sprit and bolted to the stem as well as a chain stopper on the
sprit. Figured this would be indestuctible.

I was considering cutting the end off the sprit in front of the roller
to make releasing and stowing my Delta 44 anchor easier requiring less
manual work and using the windlass. Never got to it …

Was sailing the anchor out at a crowded anchorage. Was alone and
looked away for a little too long (Yes I’ve looked away a little too
long before as well:-) while operating the windlass (freefall 900).
The anchor hit the sprit with a lot of force. I noticed widening of
the gelcoat cracks. Little did I know…

When I got back to check out the sprit is was cracked all the way
across on the bottom and the side to the top 1/4" of fiberglass. I
could easily flex upwards from there out to the roller by hand.
Downward it was well supported by the stainless support I added
otherwise I think it would have just broken clean off.

I cut off the sprit from the point of the opening forward. Here’s what
I found. The top is nicely laid up fiberglass about 1/4"think. This
was still in good shape and not cracked. The bottom was an extremely
thin layer of fiberglass maybe just one layer plus gelcoat and was
cracked through. The middle 1/5 inches was a a messy mishmash with
voids and cracked clean through. There was also some resin impregnated
foam all cracked clean through.

I believe the top layer flexed and the rest of the mashmash wasn’t
very strong and was brittle. So it looks thick but isn’t well laid up.

From the opening back all was well and looks better constructed.

I’ve never heard of anyone having this problem so maybe its just the
day they laid up my sprit.

Alan F-33 Hull #51 1982

michel.capel · August 13, 2006, 10:08am

Posted by michel.capel (michel.capel@…>)

Alan,

I’ve heard of and seen a lot of Freedoms with shortened, replaced or
reinforced catheads (anchorplatforms). In my owners manual it says
that the cathead is only suited to stow the anchor, not to take the
load of the boat pulling on the chain. On my previous Freedom (an
F33/35) the cathead was still good, but also had a lot of cracks.

This winter, my F44 was in tow over a 4 mile stretch of sea with
tide against wind. I had a small but very strong little tug that
dragged me along at 7 or 8 knots. I had the towrope led through the
hole in the cathead and over the bow roller towards the cleats. When
bumping up and down in the choppy sea, the cathead bent up and down
continuously. I was afraid it would snap off at the bow, but luckily
it held until we made port. I bought a stainless chainhook, a 24mm
line of 6 yards and a thick rubber snubber to make a line to take
the stress off the windlass and cathead when at anchor. On my
previous boat, I had a similar rope and hook.

Michel

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com, “Alan” <akusinitz@…>
wrote:

At the risk of embarassing myself I thought I’d describe my mishap
in
case the construction of the anchorsprit on F-33s and various
other
models of Freedom is of interest.

My sad story:
Last year I got the anchor caught on a cable and put a fair
amount
of stress the the sprit. I noticed what I believes at the time was
gelcoat crazing near the point of the sprit where the opening
begins.
Didn;t give it much thought. But added a stainless steel support
under
the sprit and bolted to the stem as well as a chain stopper on the
sprit. Figured this would be indestuctible.

I was considering cutting the end off the sprit in front of the
roller
to make releasing and stowing my Delta 44 anchor easier requiring
less
manual work and using the windlass. Never got to it …

Was sailing the anchor out at a crowded anchorage. Was alone and
looked away for a little too long (Yes I’ve looked away a little
too
long before as well:-) while operating the windlass (freefall
900).
The anchor hit the sprit with a lot of force. I noticed widening
of
the gelcoat cracks. Little did I know…

When I got back to check out the sprit is was cracked all the way
across on the bottom and the side to the top 1/4" of fiberglass. I
could easily flex upwards from there out to the roller by hand.
Downward it was well supported by the stainless support I added
otherwise I think it would have just broken clean off.

I cut off the sprit from the point of the opening forward. Here’s
what
I found. The top is nicely laid up fiberglass about 1/4"think.
This
was still in good shape and not cracked. The bottom was an
extremely
thin layer of fiberglass maybe just one layer plus gelcoat and was
cracked through. The middle 1/5 inches was a a messy mishmash with
voids and cracked clean through. There was also some resin
impregnated
foam all cracked clean through.

I believe the top layer flexed and the rest of the mashmash wasn’t
very strong and was brittle. So it looks thick but isn’t well laid
up.

From the opening back all was well and looks better constructed.

I’ve never heard of anyone having this problem so maybe its just
the
day they laid up my sprit.

Alan F-33 Hull #51 1982

Alan_Kusinitz · August 13, 2006, 12:37pm

Posted by Alan Kusinitz (akusinitz@…>)

Interesting. Didn’t realize others
had issues. I always use a snubber at anchor. But I do expect the roller/sprit
to take the force of raising and lowering the anchor even when there is some
force when breaking out the anchor. Just too hard to keep reattaching the
snubber as I raise the anchor.

Note that aft of the opening (on mine
about 1 or 2 inches aft) the resin mish mash turns to the usual balsa core. So
any cracks could result in wet or rotted balsa further weakening the sprit.
Alan

From: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com [mailto:freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of michel.capel
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 6:08
AM
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Re:
Broken anchorsprit - Forensics

Alan,

I’ve heard of and seen a lot of Freedoms with shortened, replaced or
reinforced catheads (anchorplatforms). In my owners manual it says
that the cathead is only suited to stow the anchor, not to take the
load of the boat pulling on the chain. On my previous Freedom (an
F33/35) the cathead was still good, but also had a lot of cracks.

This winter, my F44 was in tow over a 4 mile stretch of sea with
tide against wind. I had a small but very strong little tug that
dragged me along at 7 or 8 knots. I had the towrope led through the
hole in the cathead and over the bow roller towards the cleats. When
bumping up and down in the choppy sea, the cathead bent up and down
continuously. I was afraid it would snap off at the bow, but luckily
it held until we made port. I bought a stainless chainhook, a 24mm
line of 6 yards and a thick rubber snubber to make a line to take
the stress off the windlass and cathead when at anchor. On my
previous boat, I had a similar rope and hook.

Michel

— In freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com,
“Alan” <akusinitz@…>
wrote:

At the risk of embarassing myself I thought I’d describe my mishap
in
case the construction of the anchorsprit on F-33s and various
other
models of Freedom is of interest.

My sad story:
Last year I got the anchor caught on a cable and put a fair
amount
of stress the the sprit. I noticed what I believes at the time was
gelcoat crazing near the point of the sprit where the opening
begins.
Didn;t give it much thought. But added a stainless steel support
under
the sprit and bolted to the stem as well as a chain stopper on the
sprit. Figured this would be indestuctible.

I was considering cutting the end off the sprit in front of the
roller
to make releasing and stowing my Delta 44 anchor easier requiring
less
manual work and using the windlass. Never got to it …

Was sailing the anchor out at a crowded anchorage. Was alone and
looked away for a little too long (Yes I’ve looked away a little
too
long before as well:-) while operating the windlass (freefall
900).
The anchor hit the sprit with a lot of force. I noticed widening
of
the gelcoat cracks. Little did I know…

When I got back to check out the sprit is was cracked all the way
across on the bottom and the side to the top 1/4" of fiberglass. I
could easily flex upwards from there out to the roller by hand.
Downward it was well supported by the stainless support I added
otherwise I think it would have just broken clean off.

I cut off the sprit from the point of the opening forward. Here’s
what
I found. The top is nicely laid up fiberglass about 1/4"think.
This
was still in good shape and not cracked. The bottom was an
extremely
thin layer of fiberglass maybe just one layer plus gelcoat and was
cracked through. The middle 1/5 inches was a a messy mishmash with
voids and cracked clean through. There was also some resin
impregnated
foam all cracked clean through.

I believe the top layer flexed and the rest of the mashmash wasn’t
very strong and was brittle. So it looks thick but isn’t well laid
up.

From the opening back all was well and looks better constructed.

I’ve never heard of anyone having this problem so maybe its just
the
day they laid up my sprit.

Alan F-33 Hull
#51 1982

\

Jerome_Weinraub · August 13, 2006, 1:33pm

Posted by Jerome Weinraub (zayde@…>)

My F33 has a custom platform of 2" SS tube bolted to the hull,with a bobstay. Rollers are fitted on a welded-up SS crosspiece,and the filler piece is teak. Very nice looking,and far stronger than the original design. I have ridden out 2 gales anchored up ,and no strain on the platform.

----- Original Message -----
From: Alan
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2006 9:37 PM
Subject: [freedomyachts2003] Broken anchorsprit - Forensics

At the risk of embarassing myself I thought I’d describe my mishap in case the construction of the anchorsprit on F-33s and various other models of Freedom is of interest.My sad story:Last year I got the anchor caught on a cable and put a fair amount of stress the the sprit. I noticed what I believes at the time was gelcoat crazing near the point of the sprit where the opening begins. Didn;t give it much thought. But added a stainless steel support under the sprit and bolted to the stem as well as a chain stopper on the sprit. Figured this would be indestuctible.I was considering cutting the end off the sprit in front of the roller to make releasing and stowing my Delta 44 anchor easier requiring less manual work and using the windlass. Never got to it …Was sailing the anchor out at a crowded anchorage. Was alone and looked away for a little too long (Yes I’ve looked away a little too long before as well:-) while operating the windlass (freefall 900). The anchor hit the sprit with a lot of force. I noticed widening of the gelcoat cracks. Little did I know…When I got back to check out the sprit is was cracked all the way across on the bottom and the side to the top 1/4" of fiberglass. I could easily flex upwards from there out to the roller by hand. Downward it was well supported by the stainless support I added otherwise I think it would have just broken clean off.I cut off the sprit from the point of the opening forward. Here’s what I found. The top is nicely laid up fiberglass about 1/4"think. This was still in good shape and not cracked. The bottom was an extremely thin layer of fiberglass maybe just one layer plus gelcoat and was cracked through. The middle 1/5 inches was a a messy mishmash with voids and cracked clean through. There was also some resin impregnated foam all cracked clean through. I believe the top layer flexed and the rest of the mashmash wasn’t very strong and was brittle. So it looks thick but isn’t well laid up.From the opening back all was well and looks better constructed.I’ve never heard of anyone having this problem so maybe its just the day they laid up my sprit.Alan F-33 Hull #51 1982

Alan_Kusinitz · August 14, 2006, 1:41am

Posted by Alan Kusinitz (akusinitz@…>)

Sounds great. I installed a windlass a few
years back and then had a custom stainless angle iron support with an eye for a
snubber line made and installed in last winter. Didn’t want to undo all
this and start from scratch.
Today just installed an large stainless
Delta-23 roller bolting it through the sprit and the support under it.
Seems pretty solid. We’ll see.
Alan

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From: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com [mailto:freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Jerome Weinraub
Sent: Sunday, August 13, 2006 9:33
AM
To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [freedomyachts2003]
Broken anchorsprit - Forensics

My F33 has a custom platform of 2" SS tube bolted to
the hull,with a bobstay. Rollers are fitted on a welded-up SS crosspiece,and
the filler piece is teak. Very nice looking,and far stronger than the original
design. I have ridden out 2 gales anchored up ,and no strain on the
platform.

----- Original Message -----

From: Alan

To: freedomyachts2003@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Saturday, August
12, 2006 9:37 PM

Subject:
[freedomyachts2003] Broken anchorsprit - Forensics

\

At the risk of embarassing myself I thought I’d
describe my mishap in
case the construction of the anchorsprit on F-33s and various other
models of Freedom is of interest.