Thanks for the rescue at 3rd John!

[Rube]

Big thanks to John who towed me most way back from outside the channel at 3rd ave yesterday to paddling distance when my mast broke. Still took me 40 mins more to get in (came in just upwind of the bridge), but changed this from a potential night rescue and scary situation to merely very inconvenient.

John thanks again for being a great bloke and cutting your session short and helping me out! Thanks also to the other folks who were looking for me from shore with binocs, ready to call the fire dept! It's great how everyone looks out or each other here, windsurfer or kiteboarder, definitely reassuring to come back to the rigging area and find a posse looking out for ya.

I guess my lesson here (discussed here many times, but personal experience is a great teacher) is to carry proper tow line (my extra downhaul wasn't really long enough, and didn't stretch enough to cushion the connection between the boards when towing. I tried the "shove your mast tip into the remainder of your mast" jury-rig option, but it was clear that wasn't going to work (bag of unwieldy washing) after trying for 20 mins I opted to jetison the rig. I was also glad I was wearing my 4/3 wetsuit, I was pretty cold by the time I got in even though I had been paddling for a while.

Word to the wise - RDM masts do break! This one was < 3 years old, and broke just above the boom. I was just landing a smallish jump, so must have already been weakened somehow.

If anyone finds my 5.8 Sailworks revo + north boom (unlikely I know it probably is now in Davey Jones' Locker) drop me a line.

Cheers

R

[eliot10]

Hey Rube,
It's always good to hear stories like your with a good ending. I hope you and John are recovered from that ordeal.
What brand RDM mast were you using? I have been using two 430 Power-x 90% for the last 4 years. I have sailed Sunset, Jalama, and Arroyo, and recently PSC. During this las recent trip I saw a RDM Ezzy mast broken just above the boom as well. Perhaps, I'll be in the market for a new 430 RDM and use my old ones for back up masts.
Best,
Eliot

[gerritt]

What kind of RDM? How many days do you estimate you had on it? What kind of boom connection? Are you using a thick shim?

I have a set of Ezzy/Powerex's I've been using since 2002. I know I'm taking a risk, but the man, Dave himself, said no need to replace them unless they are showing cracks, etc.

You're making me nervous bro (or, better yet, Don't taze me bro!).

[Rube]

My ex-mast was a Fiberspar radius RDM. I think it was pretty high carbon content, but can't remember. It did have quite a number of hours on it (probably about 30 days per season), but didn't have any obvious damage when I rigged it. I always use a mast protector as my boom only fitted standard diameter masts.

I had noticed that the area around where the boom clamps on was getting a bit whiteish, but I figured that was just due to wear from the clamping. I hadn't abused it, no looping etc, but had wavesailed on it quite a but at PSC, but didn't recall it really getting thrashed anytime.

So I guess I'll be shelling out for a primo wave mast. Any suggestions? I heard good thinks about powerex.

R

[gerritt]

Ah, Fibersnap. I use their booms and haven't broken one of those since they modified them to an articulating head. I broke many with the old heads. I broke a few of their standard diameter masts in the waves. I haven't had a mast fold on me while bay sailing since the days of aluminum back in the late 80's. I don't want to repeat that as I broke down sailing about 2 miles out at Coyote and barely made the Third Avenue bridge about 5 hours later in the dark. Pulling up at 11:00 p.m. is not the kind of adventure I crave out of windsurfing.

The newer Ezzys are made by No Limitz for Dave to his specs. They match the old Powerex's he had made to his specs as well. What's nice about that system is you can buy the tops and bottoms seperately, thus saving you $$ when you break the bottom, which is usually the case. You can also mix and match the bottoms and tops. I own 2 1/2 masts, which translates into 4 sizes to match my quiver. I sail over 100 days a year in a combination of waves and flat water. I would estimate my 400 cm bottom half has over 400 days on it, which translates to over 800 hours of use.

Hey Dave, should I buy a new 400? As I write this, I am convincing myself its time for a new mast. Lets see at $200 for the bottom and 800 hours, that's $.25/hr. I'd say I got my money's worth... Or, I could buy the whole thing for about $400.00, thats $.50/hr. Hmm....

[Rube]

Geritt-

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll certainly take a look at them, 800 hours is a pretty strong endorsement (pun intended).

One thing I was thinking while riding my bike on nice _dry_ land over the weekend was I wonder if I'm shockloading the mast when I land - typically I stay hooked in (I'm lazy) unless it's a mondo (for me) jump. I bet during the landings the whole rig gets a pretty heavy load. I haven't broken any booms or harness lines, but this is mast #3 in 4 years and I bought an RDM cos I thought that was the strongest you could go with. Maybe "It's not the tool, it's the fool" in this case.

Sounds like you had quite the epic at Coyote! I can see how that could easily happen though, if I hadn't had a tow I would have ended up down in Alviso

Cheers

R

[jam-1]

There is a reason they call them fibersnap. No factual data to back it up with, but I believe nolimitz (and probably ezzy's since they are made by nolimitz) are stronger than fiberspars. not sure about yours, but i have a 400 skinny fiberspar, and it seems cheaply made. The connection on the nolimitz is very tight, whereas there is a little play with the fiberspar. My guess is nolimitz has tighter tolerances. Having a little bit of looseness in the connection cannot be good...

[joewindsurf]

Amazing! Its been over 4 years since I've touched my windsurfing gear (been kiting) and it sounds like "Fiber-SNAP" is still business. The fact that they are still in business is amazing to me. I've had too many swims in due to them.

Back in the mid-to-late nineties I stopped buying fiberSNAP and switched over to Power-X. They are bomb proof! I still have a couple of two piece sets in the garage (460's and non-skinny though).

[gerritt]

Sounds like its time to change your handle to joekitesurf...

[joewindsurf]

I probably should change my handle to JoeKitesurf.. but I'm sure someone has probably already taken it.