I am about to purchase a second hand Stratos.......any tips on what to look for or any general regular areas of concern (I'm buying anyway its just so I know how much work I might have to do !)
Well I've just put mine on Y&Y website to sell. But unbiased advice! - look at condition of jib and asymmetric. The jib gets tired from being furled and the asymmetric eventually suffers from being pulled into the sock. Both stop you sailing efficiently and the asymmetric becomes almost impossible to launch and recover.
Doug, Sorry to hear you are selling. You forgot to tell Neil that the only weak points on a Stratos are the rudder pintles. If your hadn't broken in the Nationals you might have become Champion. Luckily mine broke the week before the Nationals so I had fixed it. The problem is that the pintle pin is held into the aluminium rudder stock cheeks with a steel roll-pin. The roll-pin is in a hole drilled right through the pintle. This causes weakness and corrossion, which breaks the pintle inside the stock. The first you know is when the rudder comes off in your hand - as happened to Doug when leading in the Nationals !!! Check it regularly and replace pin and retain without drilling - I have fixed a new one in with a grub screw. So far it has lasted. Cheers, Mike.
Only selling as the boys have deserted me into Toppers and are now both in squads, funnily enough I regularly run into Mark West and his crew as their boys are in the same squads. From Stratos to chauffer / sponsor in one easy move!
My sailing club actually presented me with a plaque with a set of pintles attached as a consolation prize. I think you are being very generous with the champion compliment but thanks anyway.
Second Hand Stratos
Posted - 21 Feb 2006 : 12:48:00
