Forestay attachment

[dorsetboy]

My forestay (like the shrouds) is attached to a galvanised steel tang bolted to the inside of the hull ( 2 bolts only) and glassed in. The forestay tang is now badly corroded and needs replacement/repair. I am going to get a replacement made up out of stainless but want to avoid further corrosion. Should I rely on bolts only ( I was thinking of 3 or more possibly with a backing piece on the exterior) or should I glass in with the risk of corrosion in the buried section?
Any advice? Many thanks.
John

 

[vyv_cox]

If there is any possibility that water can access the fibreglass and remain in there it should be avoided. You might like to look at these cases Sadler 34 lower and cap chainplates and Westerly Oceanmaster 48 chainplates

I would far prefer chain plates to be simply bolted with sealant between the plate and grp to avoid ingress of water.

 

[Refueler]

On my Snapdragon ... the forestay was simple a threaded bolt through the triangular deck stemplate to a nut under deck .... buried in the resin and mat of the prow. At the worst possible time - it let go outside Bembridge harbour and an entire genny unfurled in the rising gale.

I designed my own replacement .... the stemplate had a vertical plate run its length with multiple forestay attachment holes - so I could shackle forestay at position I determined. The plate had also a vertical tang that ran down the stem to give it extra vertical hold.
Its some years now since that was done and I sold the boat ... but there were (if I remember correctly) 3 machine bolts and nuts each side of the forestay vertical plate and two machine bolts and nuts fastening the tang to the vertical stem. NOTHING was going to cause that baby to fail.....

 

[dorsetboy]

Many thanks for the suggestions.
I have now cut back the laminate to expose the metal which is cruciform and substantial. I suspect that the laminations were contributing most of the strength and all the lateral resistance.
I am planning on copying the metal in stainless and bolting it through to a substantial external plate. If there is evidence of lateral deflection I might have to resort to further bolts or careful glassing in of the lateral pieces.