The early fibreglass 2 piece North Masts were pretty good, although the blue wave mast was very stiff! I believe they were made by Exel. The thing that finally failed on the ones I had (and still have one somewhere) was the alloy ferrule. They corroded and failed at their base.
Talking of old masts, my original TC Spacer mast (1982?) had a whoppingt 55mm ID base diameter! It was huge!! And this was when the original WSOD was 45mm. In the mid '80's, the Europeans decided 48/48.5mm was to go (North, Exel, Rotho and Serfiac to name a few) and eventually everyone else followed. 48mm was pretty much the standard by the early 90's.
I also remember that in the late '80's, the common presence of both 45mm masts and 48mm masts created some issues with bases. Tyronsea came up with a simple solution by making their extensions 45mm and supplying them with a 48mm sleeve. 
Sailquik, the ol TC SPACER! What a weapon. My first longboard back in '85 I think. I got bored of that thing in about 4 months. It flexed as much as a double plugger thong. Followed by an almost as useless Windsurfer Transformer. OMG weren't they the days. Bahahaha!!!
Yo 515, Nice squire mate!! I've been sulking so much coz no wind.
I've forgotten about fishing. Conditions looking good this weekend though, might take the canoe offshore early n see what I can snare.
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
Sailquik, the ol TC SPACER! What a weapon. My first longboard back in '85 I think. I got bored of that thing in about 4 months. It flexed as much as a double plugger thong. Followed by an almost as useless Windsurfer Transformer. OMG weren't they the days. Bahahaha!!!
Yes, good times! 
I had a Windsurfer Transformer as well! 
actually, I had a lot of boards in the '80s. new ones kept coming out, the sport was booming and it was very easy to turn over the older one and get the never one! In no particular order, I also has a few different TC's, a few Windrush's, Waylar's, a couple of F2's, Reflex wave, many Tyronsea's, a couple of Cobra boards (my first expoxy boards - a speed needle, 290 Slalom and a Race), Waitata's, AHD's (early '90's.) 'SPEED' slalom and Race boards and quite a few different Polyester boards made by myself (most of which I still have). I was finally convinced to buy the newer WSOD when it came out with a 'retactable' CB, but that didn't last very long with me: Boring. I may have missed a few. 
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
None of my Chinook sdm extensions fit inside it. The plastic cap at top of extension too large a diameter. Shim / collar which locates on pin on extension is also too big. Id send a pic but cannot do so with this Precambrian phone machine I currently use.
The original collar was much thinner where it slid inside the mast. Its long gone. Crushed it in the tailgate of my cruiser. 
If I take the top cap off the extension to suit Matrix5 will it damage my normal sdm, due to it being loose?
You are right, once you remove those shims, the extension is no longer good for a standard RDM, unless you can find a method of fitting them back on. Not a problem for me, I only have one 2 piece standard rdm, which has it's own extender. (a very old one from early 90s)
But I encourage you to have a go, too good a mast not to be using it. If you have any old extensions lying around, you may find they slide over the top of the chinook with shims removed, that would be an easy conversion from one to the other.
Just tried i with mine, and it's good fit, not too tight not too loose. So all you need is an old standard extension that's reached it's use by date.
Yes if is not windy go catch fish Olskool
Gee earlier masts sounded like less standardization and those plastic flexy heavy boards!
A bit off topic. But yep think ive got a complete Set of McGearys SPEED boards. Slalom world cup,Speed125, Speed250 n a couple of Speed F1s. Also have a Waitata lurkin amongst all the guff. The list goes on......
Ohh but thats a small collection n comparison to my fishing gear arsenal.
Decrepit, would it be ok to remove sdm extension top. Then chop the shim part of the collar off. So mast seats on the collar shoulder. It would leave extension slightly loose at base of mast. Advisable??? No??
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
Decrepit, would it be ok to remove sdm extension top. Then chop the shim part of the collar off. So mast seats on the collar shoulder. It would leave extension slightly loose at base of mast. Advisable??? No??
That's exactly what I'm talking about, have a look at my pic above, you guys have put a few posts in front of it while I was taking the picture.
A chinook with the shims removed will fit a kilwell close enough, if it's a tad loose one layer of tape at the base will be enough. to easily convert back to a 48, an old piece of SDM extension will slide over the modified chinook.
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
A bit off topic. But yep think ive got a complete Set of McGearys SPEED boards. Slalom world cup,Speed125, Speed250 n a couple of Speed F1s. Also have a Waitata lurkin amongst all the guff. The list goes on...... Ohh but thats a small collection n comparison to my fishing gear arsenal.
Speed SR 250L test from Freesail Jan Feb 1989:
^Thanks RichardG!!
Decrepit, so use rdm to adjust length n slip sdm sleeve over the top to shim mast Gotcha.. I've got all the bits. Now where is that angle grinder.
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
Sailquik, the ol TC SPACER! What a weapon. My first longboard back in '85 I think. I got bored of that thing in about 4 months. It flexed as much as a double plugger thong. Followed by an almost as useless Windsurfer Transformer. OMG weren't they the days. Bahahaha!!!
I thought a single plugger would have flexed more , is that not why they went double 
If I may ,....
From an engineering point of view ,
If it's tight or loose , it's still two small pressure points working here . And they are small ,
I cant see any weak point disadvantages if there is tightish or 2 mm gap .
Until your getting leverage angles it should make no difference .
Just sayin .
Ahh, RichardG. You read my mind! I am currently sitting by my scanner, scanning my old brochures, starting with the 1985 Cobra brochure.
I will start a seperate thread for them. 
Select to expand quotesailquik said..
Ahh, RichardG. You read my mind! I am currently sitting by my scanner, scanning my old brochures, starting with the 1985 Cobra brochure.
I will start a seperate thread for them.
Sailquik, Cool if you have any Bombora brochures and Freesail tests that would be excellent.. Astro-Toy onwards...Zot and X-it...
IMaxiiii, you're late!! Double plugger executives are the go. Get a size bigger than you normally use n just cruise across the soft sand like a pro. Imaxtrax for yr feet.Anyway, so coz most of the load of mast is in compression with little mis alignment it should be ok? Sounds like the Matrix5 mast is indestructo anyway.
Go for it , won't be any weaker if it has a tad of rattle.
ps : disclaimer , it would be a little weaker with a slight gap , but it would be soooo small it would make no difference .
The calculable difference in pressure point loads , ( indentation spread load causing split ) , in a 2 mm diameter difference would be epic .
decrepit would have the formula
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
Sailquik, the ol TC SPACER! What a weapon. My first longboard back in '85 I think. I got bored of that thing in about 4 months. It flexed as much as a double plugger thong. Followed by an almost as useless Windsurfer Transformer. OMG weren't they the days. Bahahaha!!!
A mate had a Spacer, a board I quite liked. He hacked the track till it work, put on a good Gaastra sail and a different centreboard, and it went pretty damn well. It couldn't beat a full on epoxy board that was well sailed, but a poorly sailed Raceboard or other plastic boards were normally well behind,
I'm lucky, I don't get bored with much gear unless it's too limited in its wind range.
Select to expand quoteChris249 said..
A mate had a Spacer, a board I quite liked. He hacked the track till it work, put on a good Gaastra sail and a different centreboard, and it went pretty damn well. It couldn't beat a full on epoxy board that was well sailed, but a poorly sailed Raceboard or other plastic boards were normally well behind,
I'm lucky, I don't get bored with much gear unless it's too limited in its wind range.
Yes. I didn't notice the flexibility as we had nothing better then to compare. And it was quite fast in it's day for it's type. And yes, the larger CB from a Runner made it go upwind much better. 
Truthfully, it was not so much boredom re the WSOD, it was more that I had got used to faster funboards and the early short boards and I could not find that feeling on the OD. And by then, there was no OD racing fleet left nearby.
^ TC Runner was a better board than the Spacer. Noticibly stiffer n quicker n much better graphix. Both no match for a SR250L. Epoxy vs Roto polyethylene. Baboinnggg..... Gee why don't the use that stuff anymore??
Well, I sort of agree about the TC Runner. But I didnt notice they were built any different, and I had both concurrently. Maybe you just got a particularly 'boingy' Spacer?
the Spacer was faster and nicer on planing reaches. The Runner was just a better all rounder. Runners sold in quite large numbers around here. They must be hanging up an sheds everywhere - or buried in the local tip. The 'adjustable' tracks didn't ever work on the fly though. 
I should have some TC brochures as well but I haven't found them yet.
Select to expand quoteolskool said..
Decrepit, so use rdm to adjust length n slip sdm sleeve over the top to shim mast Gotcha.. I've got all the bits. Now where is that angle grinder.
No not and RDM, an SDM chinook with the shims removed for the kilwell and with an old sdm over the converted chinook for the SDM.
I found this in the 1985 Cobra Brochure I posted in another thread. This refers to the 'extremely leewardly stiff' mast with carbon strips up each side. You can just see them in the photo:
Select to expand quotesailquik said..
I found this in the 1985 Cobra Brochure I posted in another thread. This refers to the 'extremely leewardly stiff' mast with carbon strips up each side. You can just see them in the photo:
Rotho Duo mast ? Looks like that mast.
