I have just destroyed my second Camberspar tube and am wondering if these tubes might be a bit weak for their intended purpose. They seem to be made out of standard 6061 2.25"OD 1/8" wall
aluminum tubing with a powder coated finish. I broke the first one because I got caught in a microburst and released the
sheets to prevent a
capsize (note that I have a cat and they don't simply lay over on their sides). When the center passed over and the
wind reversed direction the
jib went around the front of the forestay instead of the back and when the stop
knot on the end of the sheet hit the stop The thing simply folded. That was a bit understandable as the winds were at least 50 knots and the thing was obviously never designed for he load that was put on it from the odd angle of pull of the sheet and the immense force of the microburst. This latest episode however was in
wind only 15 gusting 20. I was wing on wing with a 2-4 foot sea coming off my starboard quarter when a larger wave, probably in the 6-8 foot range lifted the stern and turned the
boat to starboard. The top of the
jib backwinded while the bottom continued to drive and the spar folded. The the guys who made the sail, and who also are the riggers for Endeavourcat and who used to do Mantas when they were in production, says that this is a fairly common occurance. He also it is fairly common for racers to fold whisker poles this way. Never having been a
racer I have no experience in this area. I was wondering if other Camberspar sailors(Manta, Freedom, and Endeavourcat sailors) have had similar failures and would like to hear about them. Also from you racers, is this really a common way to bend a whisker pole?
I'm also wondering if it might be better to replace the tube with a heavier one, perhaps with 1/4 in walled tubing. Unlike with a manhandled whisker pole the extra weight would not seem to be a major issue with a Camberspar.
Note: I would have used the registered trademark symbol after the term Camberspar if I could have figured out how to insert one in this editor, as there does not appear to be a symbols font option