I would like to let you, and all the other Clipper 36 owners know about the bronze fitting, that is located at the bottom of the dolphin striker. The chrome plated bronze fitting that came from Cheoy Lee is not very well designed. We found this out the hard way. While out for a day sail here in San Diego we heard the loud, SNAP! sound that you never want to hear on your boat. At first I though one of the Bob-stay wires had broken, never suspecting the fitting. Unfortunately, this particular fitting is not inspected very often. We paid the price with a broken bowsprit. Luckily we didn't break anything else. When the fitting broke the force of the entire rig pulled the bowsprit upward quite hard. It held it's own, or so we thought. We didn't realize the full extent of the damage until we were back at the dock and could see the radial crack, that I found went half way through the cross section of the Sitka spruce. I decided that it was not repairable. We opted to make a new bowsprit out of Douglas fir and of course a new dolphin striker fitting. I redesigned the fitting and had it made from a solid billet of 316L stainless. Needless to say it is leaps and bounds stronger than the original casting. I would also like to note that the casting on our boat had been replaced with a new part from Cheoy Lee only 15 years ago. Anyway, please take a close look at your fitting and if you would like to replace it I can give you all the  information. I have attached three pictures showing the broken bronze fitting  along with my new design. 

Jamie Sibley
 

James... this fitting would possibly fit the other clipper models but I am not sure.  You could measure your fitting and contact Mark for dimensions. 

 
Click for full size images

Contact Mark Hockett if you'd like to have a new fitting made for your boat.

3/08 following is letter we got from Mark

Thanks Jamie for this information

Here is Jamie's Photos of the Bow Sprit Replacement
All images can be clicked for full size photo

Bowsprit replacement on Flying Cloud

The first step was removing the old broken bowsprit. This included removal of the Headstay, forestay, Whisker stays, bobstay, bow pulpit, old caulk, fiberglass, and all associated hardware/fittings. The removal was done in one day.
 

This picture shows the port side radial crack that circles around underneath.	Starboard side with continuation of crack from other side and additional longitudinal breakage. Also, caulk removed.
This is the deck end with one of the bronze bolts removed. This section was tabbed in with glass. It was pretty easy to remove by running along the seam with a chisel and mallet.	The Douglas fir that I ordered from http://www.easycreeklumber.com  Keith sells excellent lumber and has great customer service. The lumber arrived in rough sawn form, so I took over to a local woodworker fellow and planed down the sides that we were going to glue together. We mixed up some West system epoxy and wet the surfaces first. Then mixed up another batch with 403 filler added. Then we clamped the heck out of it, as shown above. I let it cure for the weekend and then took this piece to a local wood turning shop to have the tapered end made for me.
This is the old next to the finished new bowsprit. I had to do a bit of finish work after getting it back from the wood turner. I had to taper the square sides down to meet the size of the old one, make the tongue cutout, cut and finish sand the nose to fit the end cap. After that work was done, I sealed the whole piece with Smiths penetrating epoxy. Awesome stuff!	This shows the rot that we discovered on the end of the old bowsprit Sitka is not known for good rot resistance. Which is one of the many reasons that we chose Douglas fir for the new one.
This is what it should look like.	The prepared opening. Also showing part of the rig that I used to hold up the mast while all this is going on.
Prepared deck area. Paint sanded off and holes filled.	Samson post prepared.
New bowsprit installed, with cap on as well	The other side. I used the clamps to hold it in position while the polysulfide cured.
Deck area after install. How do you like my line clamp? The bungees worked pretty good too!

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