FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GRAMPIAN 28

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I will be keeping an eye on the other Grampian Forums and adding here any interesting information regarding repair and maintenance from these other sites plus any information you want to provide on "fixes" you have made to your Grampian that others might find of interest. Please contact the Webmaster with any suggestions. 

  1. Forestay Fitting Failure

  2. Height of Mast

 

  1. Forestay Fitting Failure

Concern has been expressed by some owners regarding the cast aluminum forestay fitting cracking and giving way with the disastrous results of the mast falling back. There is further discussion on this subject in the Grampian 26 and Grampian 23 FAQ sections.

This is one person's experience with failure of the fitting on a G28:

"My reason for writing now is to alert G28 owners to a possible problem that could have serious consequences: On a training run for the Swiftsure last Friday we heard a very loud bang in the rigging and immediately noticed the fore and back stays were slack. This occurred in 25 knot winds and in 1 meter (about 3') seas. We had the standard genoa (called a 150 I believe) and the main with a single reef.

The roller furling jammed. I went to the bow while a crew member released the genoa halyard and I pulled it down. As soon as we got that under control (a wild few minutes), I discovered that the failure wasn't the stays, as first suspected, but the fore stay bracket (called the tang I think), which had broken. The metal (1/2/" thick?) fractured. Indeed, it was the roller furling (attached to the same tang/bracket but at a different point) that helped keep the mast up. Rhapsody's tang had a third and unused hole in the tang. For the race we attached the fore stay to that, made the required adjustments to the furling alignment (the stay is behind it now, not in front) and all went well.  Conditions were similar (25-30knots) and this worked better and was probably much better on the rigging.

This might have gone very badly. I have noticed that many roller furlers at my marina do not have a separate attachment point at the bow. I am glad mine did (the fore stay became jammed in the furling, which was good because it meant that the furling itself then offered some support). I will try to upload an image or two of the metal failure. The impression I have from what's left is that it has become very brittle."  (John Taylor - Rhapsody)

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For those looking for a good fix, Stainless Outfitters (www.stainlessoutfitters.com) out of Barrie, Ontario are offering a replacement stainless steel fitting. Their "one of" price is around $900 but this could be reduced through multiple orders. $900 may be high but when you consider the cost and possible injury caused by failure of the part, it could represent a low cost. These are photos of their units.

              Click on thumbprint for larger image

      G26/G28                    G30

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  1. Height of Mast

Does anyone know what the mast height, from the water line, is for a Grampian 28? (Dave Keifer)

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I just rewired my mast this spring, and I measured it to be 35ft 3.5 inches from the foot to the very top. You will have to add the height of any antenna and the distance from the mast step to the water. (Liam)

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I have a copy of Sailing Craft in Canada and it says the Mast Height above waterline is 41.0 feet or 12.50 meters. (Jim M)