Inspect your Sailboard Racks

[kenonstott]

If I asked you about your sailing gear I would get a list of boards/sails. But for many of us it becomes necessary to carry to gear on an external rack or trailer. A failure of that rig can cost a lot more than putting your head through your sail. I remember Josh and crew losing their roof rack on the way to the Gorge several years back and scrambling to rent/fix equipment when they got there.

I have a rack on the back of our motor home for the gear. Since it is mounted to a hitch with 300 pound limit I made a very simple rack out of aluminum. Over the years I have made a few running repairs in the Gorge but never had anything serious happen. When I got back in August, I took one of the 4 boards off and the whole rig swung back 30 degrees. The weight of the boards and one bolt was all that was holding the rig on. The aluminum had cracked around the other 2 bolts and had cracked ¾ of the way around the remaining bolt. I was one bump away from losing all my sail gear (4 boards, 5 masts, 3 booms, 5 sails, and a bike). I am thankful nothing happened. Kennecott had us trained to frequently inspect all equipment we used. I will now be much more religious about that on the Motor Home rack and the Gorge rack on my van. I hope others can read this and be more diligent.