Almost a head clunker.

[noelH]

Decided part of sailboat ownership is something will always wear out or fail. And never at the right moment. 

Such a simple and inexpensive part. The clamcleat used on the topping lift. The teeth no longer firmly hold onto the line under all conditions. Ordered a brand name ClamCleat thinking it was metal. Original is plastic. Nope. Plastic. For ~$8 (today's price) it's something I will replace every 4-5 years. Year 6 on the original. Not worth the boom dropping down on the cabin or me when reefing or dropping the main. This time it bounced off my shoulder and then hit the companionway hatch. No damage to either. Just a bad moment.

[Timm R Oday25]

Ouch ! I hate when that happens.. Sometimes it's a matter of remembering to duck under the doorway or hatch..
I make an effort to spend the extra money to buy the better quality myself..Getting harder to find

[Riley Smith]

In this southern UV environment, plastic degrades and becomes brittle. Hey, I'd degrade and become more than brittle if you left ME out in the sun!   The boom on the catboat is seriously heavy. It's basically a twelve foot 2X4, so it'll be painful if it hits you. The only time it DID hit me was when I was doing a downwind in almost no breeze and was distracted by some clutter in the cockpit. I let my heading wander and the tiny breeze got behind the sail and whacked me with the boom to wake me up. It was just a love tap but it bloodied my ear and made me vow to never let that boom hit me with any authority. I've  made some changes since then to give more headroom under the boom but that boom is no joke. If the lazy jacks are rigged ( I don't always rig them) they'll back up the topping lift and not let the boom get too low. Yep, gotta watch out for that noggin'!

[Dave Scobie]

Noel:

If that topping lift was installed by Sage the clamcleat is(was) a real Clamcleat not a knockoff.

The plastic version is a CL203

The aluminum is a CL211mk1


You are an outlier in that your boat is actively used.  You are therefore approaching 'working life' on some parts.

[noelH]

The clamcleat for the jib downhaul sheet has been slipping.  Worst case I just see a loose line, but the jib stays down.  So far... Will need to replace it and fabricate something to protect the gel coat that gets abraded when I hoist the jib and the downhaul line zips across cockpit edge. Thinking (dangerous) of using the existing clamcleat mounting holes to mount a G10 or HDPE or ? base that wraps around the edge and top of the cockpit.  Or ?

Hopefully that's it for this season of parts reaching the "working life".  Did I just Jinx myself???

[Spot]

Thinking (dangerous) of using the existing clamcleat mounting holes to mount a G10 or HDPE or ? base that wraps around the edge and top of the cockpit.  Or ?

Hopefully that's it for this season of parts reaching the "working life".  Did I just Jinx myself???

Good thinking and hopefully not jinxed. I wonder if HDPE would be bendable with heat to make a conforming curve?

I got to see Vela on the hard one time, a very nice looking boat, my compliments to the skipper.

The G10 would be strong but would take more effort to wrap around a bend.