It has been brought to our attention that a few forestay fittings of this design have failed due to a crack in the welding. The crack develops along the weld on the rear side of the fitting inside the mast. It is not visible from the outside. The suspect production batches were used during the period 2004-2008.
All the failed fittings origin from long distance cruising boats with inadequate rig tune and long periods of sailing using only the genoa.
Only masts exposed to forestay loads exceeding a critical limit are at risk and we have listed all of these boats, see below.
We kindly ask you for your cooperation and suggest the following action plan to be completed before the boat is sailed again:
- Check, before further sailing is done, if your boat is on the list below. If so, please verify that your mast has a forestay fitting marked with the article number 517-914. The number is stamped in the stainless plate and is easy to check from the outside.
- If that is the case, please fill out and send the digital form for contacting Seldén.
- Seldén will immediately deliver a replacement fitting, art no 517-914-90 and decide when and where the replacement will be carried through – naturally in agreement with the owner of the boat.
- When the exchange is completed it is important that the replaced fitting is being returned to us or to our nearest service centre for further carriage to us. All Seldén Service centres are listed on our website.
- Please mark the fitting with your name and the ID number of your boat. The ID number is engraved in to the stern of the hull and has the format (example):
If the boat is no longer in your possession, we kindly ask you to inform us the name and contact details of the new owner.
If a professional rigger is hired to do the exchange, we will pay for the labour and other expences only if they are approved by Seldén on beforehand. We do not compensate lost usage or lost revenues from charter operations or any other costs relating to this re call.
We regret this unfortunate situation but would like to stress the importance of immediate action in order to guarantee safe and pleasant sailing.
Best regards,
Seldén Mast AB
Peter Rönnbäck
CEO
PLEASE NOTE! Forestay fittings marked with article number 517-924, used 2007 and onwards, are not affected by this re call.
