philn said..segler said..
Chinook. It just works.
Even with Chinook, we don't like the euro-pins in the gorge since they break. The Chinook cup is the favorite.
The Duotone europin is also brilliant. One piece machined part like Chinook europin. The iTendon/iBase is the only piece of Duotone kit I own. Plus in my experience, the Duotone tendon lasts longer than the black Chinook tendon.
These threads are always surprising to me.
People tend to mix up stuff that is shiny with stuff that works well and then lasts over time.
Something that is heavy and shiny is perhaps reassuring, but is not necessarily well engineered.
We also get several newbies misunderstanding why we have two bearings at the base of the mast.
There needs to be one bearing below the U/J and the second bearing above it.
That's because we gybe, but we also flip the rig in the water, so one bearing allows rotation in the vertical plane, and the second allows free movement in the horizontal plane.
In general sailing, the deckplate bearings and U/J wear out less if we have both bearings working freely.
(And you'll also find your deckplate doesn't unscrew when afloat. )
Where one or the other bearing does not work, the U/J itself is twisted under continual torque load, and in time it breaks, usually by splitting where the little bolts attach the tendon joint to the base - or in applying undue pressure elsewhere, like in twisting a Boje joint.
Chinook fittings are solid but having an extra rig attachment point in the deck plate, and which doubles up as your lower bearing, is not a good idea.
Doesn't matter that it looks shiny and feels heavy. Over time, it will wear and then break here, sooner than a non-join set up.
The Europin set up works best, as long as it's a decent brand.
The US cup connection is a bit second rate, usually when the spring clip nipple pins mismatch the extension used.
