DRAGONFLY Trimarans User Forum

G'day all,

just noticed movement around top of pins at the inboard pivot point.
Bottom of pin is firm but (with rig & waterstays well tensioned) there is about 2-3 Mml of sideways movement where top of arm moves to & away from main hull.
At the moment its a gentle gentle motion as boat rises & dips over chop.
Nothing looks overly worn but wont see whole story till remove amas.

Anyone else have this & an idea of what is acceptable ? Been on some quite creaky boats that other owners live with but always seemed preferable to keep mine as tight & stiff as possible. (If you get my drift !)

thanks

We went through the same thing with the hinges on our DF1000.
I removed the hinge pin and mounting in the hull stub, took it to a welder.
I had him fill to a bit too small, then I filed it to fit snugly.
With a little help of a couple of friends moving in and out on the aka when folded, I reassembled it.
Rinse and repeat with the other three hinges.

Not hard to do.

Steve B.

Thanks steve - thats pretty much the plan - just trying to decide when - now would be best of course but by the time dropped mast, lifted boat out etc etc is going to muck a lot up this year.

We did this on my boat - mast up! I went the route of getting a little larger diameter pins, re-drill the hole.
You do have to be out of the water though.
Should only take you a day to do the repair.

Worked like a charm.

I did mine in the water, one at a time.

Steve B.