Helia 44: Aft Cleats

[julianvezey]

I am concerned about the robustness of the aft cleats on my Helia 44.


Last week we rode out a major storm in the Greek Ionian in the harbour of Agia Efemia. The harbour is well protected but suffers a surge/swell when the wind is East or South East. The wind turned to the East during the storm and a nasty swell and surge came into the harbour which lasted for three days. The wind was also up to 30 knots and gusting above that for some time.


I had mooring lines and springs out. But I noticed that the aft cleat lifted when a strong surge went past. The movement was probably no more than 1mm but enough to be noticeable. At the same time as the cleat moved I could also see a movement in the whole back panel that the cleat is mounted on, but enough that the gelcoat now has hairline cracks around the area where the inside panel meets the bottom step.


Has anyone else with a Helia had this experience?


We are about to take her out and I am going to get a wooden or metal panel to back the cleat to strengthen it. Any other suggestions will be gratefully received.

[julianvezey]

Hi Everyone
Apologies....this has already been dealt with in a thread which came up when I posted this. Dunno why I couldn’t see it when I searched.

Am going to follow the advice given and add two cleats aft top sides.