Yesterday while sailing fully hiked upwind the toestrap broke, resulting in a backward somersault with pike (score 9.8) into the freezing North Sea off Scotland. The boat (2155) is 15 months old; one of the first with the new 'clip-on' mainsheet block arrangement. The toestrap snapped clean through just where it meets the aft edge of the mainsheet block fitting. The clean snap would indicate the chafing of the toestrap on the edge of the fitting, perhaps exacerbated by recent very cold conditions, caused the rubber layers in the strap to fatigue and break prematurely. Anyone else had the same thing happen?
I suggest if you have a boat with the new type of mainsheet block you check the toestrap carefully for wear just where it passes under the fitting, especially if sailing through the winter. There was no obvious indication that the strap was weakening until it snapped.
