Right hull mk1 fracture

[Johncatsandbikes]

I have just purchased old mari 4.3 (no 1140) to replace an even older pridle 16. Had a lot of fun sailing it over weekend at QLSC and at Port Macquarie and appreciate the help and advice from other (mari) sailors. I managed to cause some small amount of further damage to starboard hull top inside and will attempt a fix this week by installing a hatch well forward and reaching inside awarkwardly to apply epoxy , a nice glass paste to stick on the top offendind surface of the hull, then fibre inside hull onto the paste. Anyone tried this? I have new sails and tramp ordered from Rohan so hopefully it will do the job?

[darcy1945]

Better to cut access through the storage compartment (It's not structural) , or if you can't reach that way, cut a square access hole on the inside of the hull. I would avoid cutting into the deck forward of the front beam, as it takes a great amount of load, and I have seen Mari hulls collapse from foredeck damage. (Not many, but it has happened)

[Johncatsandbikes]

Thanks, the words not structural and storage compartment are music to my ears, I will give that a go. I'll take a few pictures for future referance, apparantly this is not all that uncommon on starboard hull on older boats.

[darcy1945]

The damage you speak of (deck inside,just forward of front beam, at bottom of curve) generally occurs on sloop rigged boats, because of the inward upward load applied by the jib bridle wires, I have never seen it on cat rig (2 forestays)  where the load is directly upwards.

[Johncatsandbikes]

Yes it was a (poorly set up) sloop rig that led to the damage which is now repaired. Worked through through the hatch and a hole I cut in front of starboard storage compartment and managed to get several layers of glass in place and then cover with a nice layer of peanut butter consistency epoxy. Will try it out Saturday with a better set on jib, I am pretty confident it will be fine. At one point I had my arm trapped inside the hull with a paintbrush in my hand feeling pretty embarased. Like a baboon with its hand through a hole holding a banana I could not get my arm out, releasing my grip on the brush allowed my arm to release. Yes I did get the brush out. Will post success of repair post race Saturday.

[Pointed Reply]

You need to be sure that your bridle wire is the correct length.

 

Quoting from the Class specification..

• Bridle wire length 1010mm measured between the shackle to thimble contact surfaces at either end of the wire.

So 1010mm onto a small d shackle on the bow and straight onto the larger d shackle on the furler

 

As Darcy says...too short and you will put undue compression on the hulls....too long and you will loose performance and sheeting angle.

[Johncatsandbikes]

Thanks, the bridle I got with the boat was too short but the previous owner also used a cat rig with the jib, five stays! I have put a bridle from an old Hobie 16 I think on it that measures 120mm  for the time being. Sail cloth has arrived so will replace everything over the next month or so. I gave an old trailer I had to another "new" mari sailer for QLSC yesterday who has just purchased an old Marri, that makes 3 regulars at QLSC plus a Hobie 14 and an Arrow. Will be looking for more old marris  and new sailors to join our fleet, they are a great boat for our Lake in all there forms.

[Johncatsandbikes]

Successful repair, a bit awkward well worth the cost of the expoxy and filler, probably cost about $60 all up. Thanks all for advice.