On 2007-10-08 08:06:34 -0400, Frogwatch said:

On Oct 8, 3:56 am, Jere Lull wrote:
On 2007-10-07 19:44:16 -0400, said:

I've managed to put two nicks in the 1/19 stainless forestay on my 32'
boat. Dont ask how, far too embarassing, suffice to say a hack saw got
drawn across the wire. Nothing was cut through, but two small chunks
got taken out of two strands. How dangerous is this?

Dangerous enough that my only thought is to replace it.

Demastings aren't any fun, and you've degraded that stay by about 20 percent.

Since when does 17/19 become 20%?

You're right. Should be 10% (2/19 rounded). (I was up WAY too late
after a great sail that brought the bow past the outer breakwater as
the sun kissed the horizon.)

Yes, the stay is probably okay, but I don't play around with the
forestay in particular. The OP *saw* two nicks. Are there perhaps
others he hasn't noticed?

Our previous boat was sideswiped, taking out two stays. Surveyor (and
I) didn't see anything wrong with the others. A bit later in the season
as we blew home under chute, I happened to notice that the backstay had
unravelled at a fitting. We were two strands away from losing that mast
from "hidden" damage.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/