Hi All, this is not meant to be a brand bashing exercise, in fact in my case it was well handled with warranty from the brand in question.

I'm 97kg's and the very first time I took my board out I couldn't get up on the foils due to standing too far forward, but I could feel the l foil loading under me. When I got in I noticed that the mast kicked out to one side maybe 60 - 70mm with a distinct bend where it came out of the mast base at the board end. It was a 2200cm foil on an 85cm alloy mast. I sent photos to the company and they replaced it under warranty for me. The rep did say that in his opinion, the 85cm mast was too long for the kinds of load a big guy on a wide board and big foil can put on the mast.

Then just last night, a similar situation with a similar weight guy on a slightly smaller foil going for his first sail and the same thing happened. Different company this time though, the only commonality was an 85cm alloy mast and a lot of leverage.

When I was doing my due diligence before buying, everyone said bigger guys needed a large front foil and a nice long mast will help with clearance in the chop. I've never heard anyone say be careful with loading a long mast in the wrong way or suggest a maximum length to use depending on rider weight.

I can only think that it's a newbie thing, where we find new and interesting ways of loading a foil, and hopefully when I get better I can go back to the longer mast, until then i'll keep going with my 65cm.

Anyone else experienced something like this and is there alloy masts out there that are stronger than others?

Thanks
Jethrow

P.S. a basic estimated cantilever load calculation shows that it takes half as much load to bend the tip of an 85cm beam 50mm compared to a length proportional amount for the 65cm beam.

I am 95Kg and have significant stress lines from the fuse up the mast (5-10cm long), if it were a yatcht survey of rig it would fail. You can feel the deformity when you run your fingers over it. If it fails I could get injured and possibly loose rig.
Bought new, both dealer and owner of company fobbed me off.
Ready to update, and just letting Adrian know I will be going with another brand. Replace my mast would have kept me happy.

105kg Armstrong 850 mast no problems

DWF said..
Sorry, but Armstrong is floppy with the 2400 front wing. Like a dogs tail wagging under the board.

Axis carbon is much stiffer (and heavier as you'd expect)

Axis aluminum 19mm or Axis carbon is stiffest big guy setup.

The Gofoil 29.5" is like granite. The NP alu looks fairly heavily built too.

Try riding a 16 lbs. road bike at 250 lbs.
Or squeeze into an American Airlines coach seat at that weight.
Oh, you don't hang glide?

DWF said..
Sorry, but Armstrong is floppy with the 2400 front wing. Like a dogs tail wagging under the board.

Axis carbon is much stiffer (and heavier as you'd expect)

Axis aluminum 19mm or Axis carbon is stiffest big guy setup.

Agree the 19mm is best big guy mast I've tried for winging or supfoiling for that matter,and I've tried many,was riding carbon fiber foils/masts for years and never thought I'd be back on a Aluminum mast fuse setup until I tried the Axis 6 months ago great set up especially for heavier riders,way to go!

I think the idea of the stiffest mast possible idea has out grown it's usefulness in reality. Must admit when I first put together my Armstrong (85cm) I thought literally "**** me this thing has a lot of flex ?". In the water it works.

another possible and most probable theory is a flexible mast for a big guy is a good thing. Most constructions of any sort have in built in flexibility, say bridges, buildings etc etc etc. total rigid mast means when put under strain where's the give?
I suppose it depends on what theory you want to adopt.

But it's just that, theory. In practise well that's a different thing altogether. Hilly is right in that the liveliness of the say the armie setup is better than on my old stiff as Ali axis setup.

From the reports of masts bending & being re-straightened by hand I am starting to think that some brands are using "as extruded" material in it's soft state.
To make these profiles they extrude the aluminium through a hardened die, the alloy is usually pretty soft say T4.
After any further work it should then be heat treated to make it T6 which is very stiff.
Unfortunately I sold my gauge for checking the Temper "T" number of aluminium & most mast would be anodised anyway so a spot would have to be stripped of anodising for testing.

If it is T4 it will have a dull sound when you tap it whereas T6 will have a higher pitch sound, hard to explain

Might be worth asking a few companies what Grade & Temper their mast are, see if they actually know

Oh. And well said AUS 808. T4 will sound like tapping a sheet of lead. T6 will sound like tapping a sheet of steel or tin.

Youngbreezy said..tried to pull in to the barrell.

Video please

Youngbreezy said..
My board did not me!

Would have been good to see

Any hot tips on how I might straighten my Naish 75cm aluminium mast? Got caught in the shore dump while swimming it back on the beach. Only a slight bend right at the top but reluctant to put too much pressure on it when I don't know what I'm doing. ?????

RustySpokes said..
Any hot tips on how I might straighten my Naish 75cm aluminium mast? Got caught in the shore dump while swimming it back on the beach. Only a slight bend right at the top but reluctant to put too much pressure on it when I don't know what I'm doing. ?????

Did same to 62 cm Slingshot mast years ago......put one end up on a block of hardwood with the bend facing up and hit the apex of the bend with a sledgehammer. Used a small piece of timber to shield between mast and hammer so it wasn't a metal to metal blow. Kept hitting it and checking by sight and a straight edge until it was straight again.
Up ended the mast so the previously bent end was at the fuse connection ( less stress ) and used it forever and it never bent again !