Dart 15 Forums

i am in need of rescue as a result of my over tentioning and the strong winds at the weekend i have popped two of my rivets in the trampoline track! as a result i have bent the track itself.

How would people repair this a few questions for your comment please.
1. Would the track be alright bent back into place and riveted in.
2. should i buy new tracks to replace old tracks
3. if i bought new tracks would the old trampoline fit
4. how hard is it to fit new tracks!

thankyou

ben tunnacliffe

halifax sailing club

Hi Ben,

I had the same problem with my boat a few years back. I found that I could bend the track back and then re-rivet it. You may have to cut it if the bend is bad and then rivet both bits back, like I did. This held fine for about 5 years.

In 2003 I took the decision to replace the trampoline because it had begun to break down and fray completely just past its sell by date, and replaced the tracks with new ones and the trampoline with a new one as well. You can read my track replacement article in the tips section of the website.

Martin S.

I had the same problem as Ben, just a fortnight ago!

The old rivets are easy to drill out, if they are made of alloy. I removed my trampoline before undertaking the repair. Without the tramp, the track is easy to bend into place.

If you purchased new tracks, you'd need to buy a new trampoline as well. This is because the grooves on the new tracks are wider, to accommodate thicker bolt ropes on the new trampolines. Your existing trampoline would keep jumping-out of the new tracks.

If the condition of your tramp is good, I'd say repair the tracks, rather than replace them.

Hi Ben ,
same thing happened to me earlier this year righting my boat after a capsize . Interestingly the rivets failed as I was sailing . I heard and felt some pinging and thought "whats that " . Any way capsized investigating problem . The righting pulled the track off what was left of the rivet heads . I also chose to bend track back into place and rivet . All I can add to discussion is that I also replaced all the track rivets that I could whilst the tramp was off . Ran out of rivets to do them all but got the top 2 or 3 on the opposite track replaced .
Good luck !

Yep
Just to confirm - I have had this problem with all my boats until I got 1945 & more recently 2002 which have got the Dart 18 style tramp tracks which do not have the problem. On all the earlier boats I owned I was able to pull back the tramp track into position (with the trampoline off) and rerivet it in position. I used to also double up the rivets at the front end by adding extra rivets between the existing ones. Don't forget to seal around all the rivets that you replace or insert with clear silicone sealant.
Cheers
Bob
PS The old tracks have a habit of splitting apart along the centreline of the rivets - in fact there is a groove extruded on the underside of the track just to aid this happening (actually I suspect it is a drilling guide for when the boat was made). Inspect your tracks carefully for evidence of this. If they are splitting you have no alternative but to replace the tracks and the trampoline.

THANKS BOB i am going to try fix them back on using extra rivets cannot afford to redo the tramp and tracks till winter where i will hav a serious think about the new tracks as i love this boat and dont want to ever get rid of it 1343 is the love of my life! ha well we will see wat winter has in store!