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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1158

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 11:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Aluminum: (much) less expensive, normally bends instead of breaking which may save ribs

Carbon: stiffer, lighter, rust free (apart from head and clip bolts), holes may widen over time, may snap could be more likely to hurt ribs

Stiffness depends on models. It seems that a heavy aluminum boom may be almost as stiff as a carbon model. I have a severne metal and it feels quite stiff. The head could be stiffer however.

Streamlined is great except than the head corrodes and may snap, adjusting the boom on the water is difficult. Also it may feel scary when close to one's head. The big wide section around the head feels a bit big. Overall diameter seems wider than most modern booms (29mm).

I swapped the streamlined head with an old Neilpryde X9, it's fantastic, super stiff, round black plastic, can adjust easily.

It could be that narrow boom may pinch the skin of hands and possibly create blisters earlier. Imagine doing pullups or pushups on a big tube vs super thin one.

I sanded the grip on a boom to only leave the thinnest layer possible, it worked well at reducing the overall diameter.

The Severne head is plastic but has sharp edges design in the head. It often leaves marks on my forehead Very Happy ! And finally some head can grab/pinch fingers when flipping the sail similarly to the tail piece when ducking.

I'm unsure which heads can fit which booms. Inner tube can work as a shim to enlarge a skinnier boom head section.

I love modern bends with straighter line, and also like a wider tail to leave my sail baggy.

Thanks Kevin for the great review.

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swchandler



Joined: 08 Nov 1993
Posts: 10588

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

While I haven't tried any of the booms with the "new school" bend, I've been very happy with my Maui Sails carbon wave 170-230 that I bought when they first came out in early 2007. In my experience, it has an outstanding benchmark front end design that is far superior to any other boom that I ever had. I liked so much that I upgraded my old HPL with the MS front end. It's an awesome design. It fits both SDMs and RDMs, but requires a MS shim when using the latter masts. With or without the shim, the front end never slips.

If I had one criticism about the boom, it would be the clips that allow adjustment of the tail extension. They work flawlessly, but I've found that they end up breaking prematurely. I'm on my 4th set now (the original plus 3 replacement sets).

Lastly, the original MS grip material was quite soft in composition, and it ended up getting pretty marred up after 4-5 years of use. I've since had it replaced with Chinook's black grip with much better results. To be fair though, it's my understanding that MS upgraded their grip durability not long after I bought mine.
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U2U2U2



Joined: 06 Jul 2001
Posts: 5467
Location: Shipsterns Bluff, Tasmania. Colorado

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find the shim, makes a better grip than those with a self contained one.

It’s a small step to fit one .

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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1158

PostPosted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I sometimes use contact cement on head piece to stick a piece of inner tube (previously sanded rough) to help with any slippage. Important to avoid unnecessary tight closing of the head.
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kevinkan



Joined: 07 Jun 2001
Posts: 1660
Location: San Francisco

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 5:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've thought about glueing some automotive cork gasket material for extra grip on the mast. I occasionally have some boom slippage when I land a big shove-it.

For me, the most non-slip front end is the Streamlined Dyneema Head. It grips the mast really well and has a large sweet spot for correct adjustment. The older style head with the black straps would also grip really well if adjusted perfectly, but that sweet spot was small, so once the straps started to creep, I would get slippage on a big landing.

The Maui Sails head with the RDM adaptor also grips very well. The North Sails head is just a tiny bit behind the MS head in this regard.

Sailing big days at 3rd Ave... my boom will slip down maybe 2 or 3 cm over the course of a sesh if I'm jumping a lot.

hmmm.... come to think of it now, maybe I put the North head above the MS... I remember a couple times in the Gorge having the MS head slip more than 2-3cm... or I'm just getting old and staying closer to the water now.

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manuel



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 1158

PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 6:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow that's crazy mate! I found the Maui Sails full shim too soft and slippery. The Nolimitz one is a bit heavier but doesn't slip at all. Can't remember if I needed to sand rough the inside?

With the Severne head I got slippage no matter how tight until I placed a piece of inner tube over the "door" part of the head.

I leave my booms on for months without touching them at all.

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