Had a failure of my portside Rutgerson foot block/cleat on my 2009 B31 Crusiser a few days ago while running under a reefed jib in 35 knot winds. As the photo shows, the cam turned right through the wheel and the housing blew apart. Needless to say it all caused some drama and jury rigging (and as a temporary solution I switched the furling line to run on the inside block of the double stack)...
Anyway, my question is does anybody know whether the backing plate and hardware for these block/cleats is glassed in or will fall out when the 2 bolts are undone? It's easy for me to get a new block/cleat from Rutgerson, but access to the back side is blocked by the entire headliner in the aft cabin, so I'm worried if I unscrew the bolts then hardware on the other side will fall off (or will it?).
Thanks in advance to anyone who can offer some advice or experience on this.
Riyad
s/v "Battuta" (2009 B31)
Vancouver, Canada