stiffer for lower carbon content, though the skinny base's are a bit dodge, i recommend if you want a skinny go get an RDM with a standard base.

Poley

why walk when u can sail?

I`ve been using a 430cm Powerex "skinny" for the past 2 seasons and I`m very happy with it. It was a season old ie 2nd hand when I bought it `cos I wasn`t sure if they were the right way to go and didn`t want to waste too much money. I was going through a TidalWave "fatty" most seasons and getting PI**** OFF because they usually broke just past the 12 month mark.

I don`t have the latest and greatest sails but reckon there is very little difference in power or useability with my older sails (2000ish models).

Ken

I haven't even looked at new gear in 10 years and am seeing an industry drowning in marketing hype. So, are the skinnies that much more durable, I got told by a salesman the other day that when testing in Mauii, 4 normal masts were broken whilst none of the skinnies had a problem at all. I want to believe, but I don't, faith anyone?? I know in waves a lot of it is purely chance when masts break, but what's the general consensus for those with experience?

Glenn

Go hard or go home

There is a definate advantage when using a skinny mast, when you need to grab the mast either gybing or waterstarting or recovering from mistakes. They allow a better grasp by hand and have less swinging weight. I admit it is about feel and as I am small and light I don't have to put as much effort into moving the sail around.

My powerex 400 mast is still going strong after 4 years of being the most used mast.
Skinny masts will break when caught in the wrong spot like all masts. The main advantage is that they will break less often after more wave abuse than regular masts. This has been proven in the warranty return rate of all brand skinnies, which is significantly lower than regular diameter masts.

My personal view is that they last at least twice as long and can take pounding after pounding at breaks like Scarborough, so they are worth it.

On the issue of price, 55% carbon wave masts were $550 eight years ago. New Skinnies are around $620 so an increase in $70 over eight years is not bad for a mast that lasts 2 to 3 times as long. Also you don't have to have new extensions as some older ones will fit or at the least you could trade them in as new ones start from $65.

All brands of skinnys are good but not all are the same bend etc so check them on your sails (ask to rig it at a shop to see). Skinny masts have been around for about 6 years, I think ezzy were first with their no limits masts, then powerex started about 5 years ago, so I wouldn't say they were new.

No question the powerex rdm 400 s and 430 have revolutionised wave sailing. They are the nest selling wave mast in Hawaii and in oz and breakage is extremely rare - i am lucky enough to be able to see the general stats for normal diameter vs rdm and there is no comparison.

when you get 1 skinny its like having 3 or 4 normal masts.

The fibrespar skinnys were known for snapping and actally gave the whole concept a bad name - especially on the east coast which tends to lag behind WA for the latest trends in wave sailing - but australia has discovered that the powerex model is the bomb !

you can still break them but it happens so rarely . keep in mind that you will probably shred more sails as something has got to give on a huge wipeout eventually.

EVERYONE local and good uses these at margs for this very reason.

As an aside -Its usually the intermediate guys learning their wave lip timing that shred masts , snap boards (flatties) and bend booms - once you get your technique and timing down and your gear tuned you will be surprised at how rarely you break anything.



There is no spoon.

ive got a 2003 400 ezzy skinny 90% carbon and by far this has been the best purchase i have ever made
my next one i buy i would like to get a powerex just to see the difference but im guessing that if i had my eyes closed i wouldnt know any better
once i got rid of my learning gear (big board, cloth sails, fat masts and pink flexible boom) i bought ezzy sails and so therefore the mast to suit

GONE WITH THE WIND

A 100% skinny is not the same as an 100% standard diameter mast. Normal masts with high carbon content are made for lightness and reflex as the main priority - these do break regularly but are aimed at high performance over strenght.

The skinny masts in high carbon have a much thicker wall and therefore have more strenght under load. They are not the lightest masts as they are made for strenght as first priority.
Therefore you can use 100% carbon skinnies with peice of mind.

Some quick calculations show that the extra thickness required to achieve the same strength would be 2.5 times and in turn the weight would be 1.8 times based on similar construction etc.
That is just to make them equal to, not better than.
So they must be very thick and heavy.


Paul Kelf

I think I may have a possible logic behind the better strength. Being thinner, stiffness aside, means that they can flex further and put less stress on the material as they are required to bend further.

So as bend increases one side is put into extension and the other compression. For a required amount of bend that amount of compression and extension increases with the diameter of the mast. Imagine three straight lines, one on the inner edge, one on the outer edge and one throuigh the middle. Now make them curves, partial circles. The further apart these lines are the smaller the diameter of the of the inner circle and the larger circle need to be for a given bend of the middle line/curve. From one piece masts that I've broken it's usually a compression failure that makes them break, not a rip in the extension side. Laminate integrity has a lot to do with compression failures.

Glenn

Go hard or go home