Well, that was exciting...

[Spoz]

...while it lasted; parted my forestay on the morning of Good Friday. Had been out doing some man overboards under motor (teaching SWMBO) and decided to reward ourselves by going for a sail. Set the jib, gybed, and the stay parted. There followed a hectic few minutes of setting up preventers and controlling the sail (which could not be furled or lowered).

When we got back alongside we managed to separate the jib halyard from the remains of the upper end of the forestay where it had been tangled (presumably providing at least some support for the mast) but of course the furler track had kinked, and we had to cut that and the remains of the forestay away before we could get the sail off completely. Inspection revealed that the stay had parted at the point were it entered the furler, where there is a large spinner to keep the halyard at the proper angle to the furler (and stay) - the sleeve through which the stay passes had developed a crack and the remains of the lower part of the stay were caught in that. So the hypothesis is that the spinner cracked, the stay caught in the crack when I set the sail, and the rotational force and shock of the gybe caused the stay to part. The weather was good; virtually no sea or swell and about 10 knots of breeze.

Bottom line, of course, is that we were lucky the mast didn't come down; the fact that I was running in very good weather, and under under jib alone, is probably the reason it didn't. The stay was 5mm FSWR about 8 years old. We got the mast out of her last weekend; inspection of the shrouds and the back stay (and indeed of the remains of the forestay) indicate that they were in very good nick with no evidence of corrosion. Oh, and the whole performace has also written off the jib halyard, probably unsurprisingly.

Now, that particular bit of the furler I don't think I had ever conciously inspected for damage in the 15 odd years I've owned the boat although of course I've sort of looked at it when replacing the standing rigging (which I've done twice previously). Lesson learned - I'll be doing it every now and again on my new furler!

[Troppo]

Wow, that was some excitement. I can remember the excitement I had when I first had my boat and somehow in a brisk wind my jib unfurled in a flash and then jammed so I could not roll it up. I managed to turn back to the shore and run for a quiet spot but then the furler unjammed and I rolled up the jib and merrily went on my way just on the motor. The feeling of being out of control on the water is not one I enjoy. My experience was nothing compared to what happened with you! I'm glad it didn't end badly.

troppo