Te Moana: June 2003 Archives

Towlers Bay<

By

on June 29, 2003 7:55 PM

It was great to be back on the boat this weekend after four weeks. The weather was unexpectedly clear and crisp despite a few showers overnight. We stayed in Towlers Bay on Saturday night and walked up to Pittwater Youth Hostel on Sunday morning.
Over the years, many people have asked me what made me take up sailing. Mostly, I've told them about watching the Sydney to Hobart race start in 1985 and thinking why can't I? But earlier, in the late sixties and early seventies, I spent a lot of weekends at the Youth Hostel at Towlers Bay from which the above shot was taken. Having a boat seemed out of reach then, but with a view like that, you'd have to dream about it...

Bracket

By

Marius Coomans

on June 16, 2003 5:22 AM

I'm still away in the US, so no new Te Moana adventures for the moment. However I've been thinking about the following issue since it happened six months ago.


Orginal bracket	Replacement bracket
We've had a largely trouble-free first season with Te Moana. Despite an early false alarm with the starboard diesel, the only thing that's broken is the bracket on the boom to which main sheet is attached. It's surprisingly flimsy and in fact some Lagoon 410 owners had warned me before hand that it is prone to come away. After the break, the local Beneteau agent, Vicsail made up a new bracket and fitted it. I wonder why Lagoon hasn't strengthened this bracket? Is it meant to be a safety release when the maximum load on the mainsail is exceeded? Mind you, it came away when Joy (who is a petite 5') was sheeting-in the main, a situation unlikely to have overly stressed the boat. So it's a puzzle, the rest of the Lagoon is very well built and feels very solid, so why this weak point?

3 Comments

By Rodney Johnson on June 18, 2004 5:30 AM

Marius,

My Lagoon 380 hull #40 was rigged with a loop of SPECTRA line to attach the main sheet to the boom because of the attachment failure on another Lagoon catamaran. This is not a very good fix as the SPECTRA line needs to be replaced periodically. I waited to long and the line broke on my boat and the main sheet was pulled into the bimini frame bending it. I would like to get an attachment like you have as it looks like a permanent solution. I never want to have to repair another bimini frame. I too do not understand why Lagoon has not supplied a better solution.

By Marius Coomans on June 18, 2004 6:11 AM

Rodney,

Yes, it's hard to understand why this hasn't been fixed by Beneteau/Lagoon. The problem was pointed out to me by a Lagoon 410 owner before we even took delivery of Te Moana (hull #153). While Vicsail (their agent in Australia) made up the replacement bracket without charge, you wonder what's keeping Beneteau from fixing this.

By Dick Korn on April 24, 2006 4:44 AM

I am looking for someone to chat with regarding my Lagoon 410. Anyone out there?

Newport Rhode Island

By

Marius Coomans

on June 9, 2003 7:55 AM

[I'm currently in N.E. USA] It was a particular treat this weekend to be invited by Brian Foster and his family to go out on their boat. While it didn't have sails, it proved a comfortable, dry and fast way to have a look around Newport RI from the water. Strange being in Newport , the namesake of our boat's home port...

Newport is definetely worth seeing, giant mansions on he foreshore, beautiful boats alongside and on the water. One surprise was seeing the late Sir Peter Blake's boat on a mooring. The weather was nothing to write home about (it appears that nice weather occurs exclusively during the week here as well!). Thanks for inviting me, Brian. It was worth seeing!