If you're talking about a traditional cylinder/ram style hydraulic adjuster, a complete leak of all fluid should not result in the loss of the rig. The rod and piston will simply extend to the maximum and stop. The piston will be at the top of its travel against the plug in the top of the cylinder. The backstay will be floppy but should still hold the mast up.
Been there, done that. Happened to Touche' during an offshore race at night. We rigged a line from the bottom of the backstay through a snatch block on the transom tang to a winch to give us some control and peace of mind but it wasn't entirely necessary. We were going downwind in mid 20's at the time. The most significant negative was Paul Eugenio, who was steering, got hydraulic oil all over his shirt. We made him leave it in the cockpit when we finally docked. :) -- Dennis C. Touche' 35-1 #83 Mandeville, LA On Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 8:43 AM Bruce Whitmore via CnC-List < cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > Sorry, but I seem to be missing something. My split hydraulic backstays > have leaked in the past, to I initially just set the backstay tension using > the turnbuckle to a light air setting at the dock and put it on my list for > future repairs. Now they're fixed ( and yes, more story on that to come). > So what are you folks saying when you talk about a failure at sea being a > bad outcome? Sure, I understand the loss of fluid, but not something that > would result in loss of the rig. > > Would you please explain? > > Thanks! > > Bruce Whitmore > 1994 C&C 37/40+ > "Astralis" > Madeira Beach, FL > (847) 404-5092 > > > Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with > the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use > PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks > - Stu
Thanks to all of the subscribers that contributed to the list to help with the costs involved. If you want to show your support to the list - use PayPal to send contribution -- https://www.paypal.me/stumurray Thanks - Stu
