Strongest RDM (and breaks?)

PM10080717 · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 9

What is the poll on the strongest RDM's, and what's with the breaking Gulf Techs?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

Only Nolimitz has demonstrated its mast's capability of touching its tip to its base, but impact and crush resistance are also important. Maybe the latter explains the alleged Gulftech problem; its walls are thinner.

Now, about this Gulftech mast breakage problem: it's news to me, and my nuke mast is a Gulftech (at 11 feet, it feels weightless). Tell or point me to more info about this problem, please, 'cause rescues in nuke conditions are sometimes just not feasible.

Mike \m/

slayer666 · Joined: 18 Jan 2008 Posts: 41

After breaking my 5 years old 400cm Powerex Z-wave earlier this year, I went RDM. I got a Powerex RDM 100 which I broke twice, both times after 4 sessions. First time hit a rock in the break (no luck), second time snapped out of nowhere way outside. They got replaced under warranty.
In the meantime I got an Ezzy-NoLimitz (made in USA) which seem to hold on.

Your pick :
- I have bad luck
- Powerex Chinese made masts are not reliable
- RDMs are incompatible with my North wave sails

PM10080717 · Joined: 23 Jul 2008 Posts: 9

89Spring · Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 241

If you can bend a mast basically in half touching tip to base, to me this has nothing to do with strength. This to me seems like a very soft mast sort of like a piece of string cheese

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

It's a 25MCS CC mast, the same stiffness you use. And it wasn't a person - sure as heck not me -- that bent one into a circle. The point of the demonstration was that they won't often break when surf drives the tip into the ocean floor.

Mike \m/

laci · Joined: 22 May 1996 Posts: 180 Location: SoCal&the Gorge

A friend of mine had an older Nolimitz RDM laying on the beach at the Hatch last week, with a 5.2 rigged on it. All of a sudden we heard a loud POP. The mast spontaineously snapped, a foot or so above the bottom of the top section. No warning. Clean break. The sail was OK. We all went WTF! Might have had previous impact damage at that point, no way to know.

LeeD · Joined: 12 Jun 2008 Posts: 1175

With lots of experience, we've seen that happen to well over 30 windsurfing masts.
The beach is a tough test for windsurfing masts Laughing

Heat, previous damage, dark luff sleeve, extreme mast bend sail styles, and many more things can contribute to a beach breaking a mast.
The peeps that went ..."WTheF" were just surprised or not experienced.
Heck, it even happenned to me a month ago!

keycocker · Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 3598

Trivial knock on the side of any carbon spar can be both invisible and fatal to the integrity. This is widely noted in all uses of carbon fibers. In the early days the wisest Euros refused to sail carbon masts esp in big winds or waves. They only changed over when glass masts stopped being made kinda like in the States with cambered sails.

89Spring · Joined: 24 Jul 2003 Posts: 241