I saw this at the harbor today.
The rigger who has been working with me on RUBY said this was likely due to a starboard upper swage fitting failure. This is less common with rod rigging.
It seems this break must have occurred without the main hoisted. I see a lot of vessels flying a headsail only. I wonder if this sort of failure can occur in that setting.
Without making assumptions, I suppose it’s a poster child, so to speak, for regular rig inspections, maintenance, and repairs.
This from AI search…..
Sailing Ruby 