Dolphin Stiker bent.

Dissassembled the old front beam with thoughts of re-using the dolphin striker strut.

After unbolting everything I was surprised at the lack of corrosion around bolt holes etc.

However, when I removed the strut I found it was bent (to the side, not fore - aft).

The bend has occurred within the beam so it would be very unlikely that you would discover it with a routine inspection.

Work continuing on the starboard hull and still waiting for the front beam.

I am going to keep the old rudder stocks as they are light, strong and in good condition. They will recieve a bit of a pimp up, probably re- annodising, and should come out ok.

On a slightly different topic:

Many years ago (somewhere around the late eighties) I used to sail a Nacra 5.2 in the ocean off Kiama, on the south coast of NSW.

There was a bit of an informal club there and we would rig on the little protected beach opposite the boat harbour.

I'm pretty sure there was some guys doing the same thing on the central coast or maybe Forster at the time.

What I have noticed lately is the difficulty in gaining access to the shore to rig and launch a boat. I'm not talking so much about surf beaches, more the little protected bays where you could safely launch from to gain access to open water.

It seems these days councils have more and more fences up to prevent this sort of thing.