CD36 Bowsprit Stay, If there is a weakness, the sea will fin

[Jack Laudermilk]

Due to circumstances, I was forced to allow my boat to ride out Hurricane Floyd at the mooring in Duxbury, Mass. in 60 to 70 knts of wind and rough seas. Although I felt secure with two new 1" braid mooring lines with heavy chafing gear extending below the bowsprit stay, the morning after found one line to have chafed through completely at the stay. The apparent cause was the lower bronze fitting connecting the stay to the bowsprit which is only about 3" long, is mounted very low on the hull and well aft of the normal lay of the mooring line to the mooring ball but has sharp corners which acted like a knife on the line. Apparently in the violent conditions one line with the shorter chafing protection stretched down and aft and sawed back and forth across the fitting just below the chafing protection until it parted. The lesson is, round over the corners of the fitting, pad it with something (no easy task), or make sure your chafing gear goes all the way to the mooring ball, or all three. Under the right conditions it could happen to anyone with a CD bowsprit stay. I believe they all use the same basic Spartan fitting. This was a close call as it nearly cost me the boat.