Broken front beam

[davemk]

Hi everyone,

I have an old Maricat 14 that I've learnt to sail on over the last few months. It's been a great way to explore the coast here in Tonga. The most recent adventure saw the front beam snap clean through under the mast step, inline with the edge of the dolphin striker. My original thought was that the dolphin striker wire had come out and the lack of counter tension caused the break in the beam. On further inspection it looks like quite a bit of corrosion, and simple wear and tear. I've attached photos for those interested.

I'm at a loss of what to do now. I need to either replace the cross beam, or fix it. I guess I wanted to ask the experts on what you thought better. I was thinking of a couple of options:
 > Buy a new cross beam from Australia and ship it to Tonga
 > Buy an old mast and cut and bend it into a crossbeam (I believe the cross beam and mast are the same profile)
 > Weld & rivet some struts inside the beam to strengthen it

Any guidance would be much appreciated, to make sure I'm not doing anything completely crazy.

 

Also, wondering if there's any way of determining mk number and maybe year of build? I've seen some people saying that they have numbers but I can't see any on my mari.

Thanks!
David

[interested]

Better to buy a 2nd hand bar and have it shipped..May take a while but better than the trial and error/injury  of trying to manufacture a replacement.

Maybe Darcy has one ?

Good time to check other things out (Dolphin Striker etc) and get parts shipped together.

[darcy1945]

Bending a piece of mast section is not an option. Repair or replace the front beam, but first check the rear beam for cracks, underneath, just inside the hulls are 2 saddles for the righting system, any cracks will occur here. Mk 1 has a piece of mast section for the rear beam with traveller track attached. Mk 2 has an extruded rear beam with integral traveller track. Early Mk1s have cast alloy attachment points for the sidestays, while later Mk1s had stainless flat.

[Peterson]

I think you need to try single ended beams which are made by aluminium. Aluminium beams are more reliable as compare to others and able to bear more load.Some different kinds of single ended beams are available with different prices.