QLD
4874 posts
Yeah they give off a very loud bang just like a rifle going off a split second before you find yourself smacking hard into the water. Well that's what all my 100% sdm carbons did. Have been on rdms for over 2 years now with no problems.
WA
1374 posts
might not wait to it happens & retire it .save the long swim home.its a old 100% powerx use it for my biggest sail when the wind is light. thsnks guys
201 posts
May give warning, or not. Of course any crack showing on the outside is a warning, but AFAIK most frequent breakages happen with 100% SDM race masts because of high tension, high bend and possibly irregularities in lamination. Weight matters, wall thickness even more, but not necessarily so. I used a very light Maui Sails 100% 460 mast from 2006 to 2012 with no problem at all, while a younger, much heavier "backup" one snapped after a few times out in 2009.
I am in touch with Maui Sails' mast manufacturer, was talking right now on the phone with him. Most recent 100% SDM masts from the brand have reduced diameter (not RDM's of course, but tapered right from the base) and thicker walls in order to have better reliability and it seems it works. Weights have gone another bit up, but WHO CARES. Once I asked him to manufacture me a 'proto' 460 mast with higher grade carbon, he suggested me not to want that as present production masts are so good and reliable it would make no sense for such 'supermast'. He does not know how bad I am at windsurfing, so I guess such suggestion has a general meaning.
