Wishbone broken

[Jean-Marc]

Originally Posted by Farlo

There is also a Nautix NXtrem with alumin tubes in the front (ergal) and carbon tail.
Have you heard about or tried such combination? I'm afraid it may break because of stiffness difference.

The german Surf magazine has tested the Nautix NX-trem boom in August 2006 :

http://www.surf-magazin.de/test-cent...ln/gabelbaume/

Not a bad boom with regards to stiffness 5 years ago, ± as stiff as either a North Sail Silver aluminum boom or NeilPryde X3 aluminum boom which are labelled as "medium" stiffness by today's standard. However, this is an old-fashioned boom shape ("pinhead" style) and the front head is screwed to the body side tubing by 2 screws on each arm, which bond is prone to normal wear and tear of the holes/screws over time...

However, some new generation aluminum booms are 30% stiffer than that : Aeron OS Slalom boom, Prolimit Assault V-Grip boom & Severne Alu Race boom are the top 3 stiffest aluminum booms of the Surf magazine August 2011 test. All 3 are built with the new V-Grip-Form 32.5 mm diameter tubing that provides a much stronger stiffness under load than regular round or oval tubing.

Cheers !

JM

[Jean-Marc]

Originally Posted by kvda

@JeanMarc: That test in the German Surf Magazine also showed that a carbon end in a aluminium boom doesn't make the boom stiffer, but it's much more expensive.
check the difference between the NP X3 and X6:
NP X3 € 230/ 27 / 22
NP X6 hybrid € 449/ 28 / 23

Sorry, I don't agree. It's not zero difference. There is a very small ("sehr geringen") difference, both subjectively when riding both booms and objectively at the lab test (both with +10 cm and +44 cm extension). The carbon tail does stiffen up the boom. It's not spectacular I agree in the case of the X3 vs X6, but it's significant enough to be felt and distinguishable. Whether the price difference justifies or not the small gain in stiffness is another question of course...

Cheers !

JM

[Farlo]

OK, thanks everybody. The max length I need is 2m18 so I may take a full carbon or hybrid if I find one at a decent price. Maybe the NXtrem as it is the very last one, but as JM says it is an old design. I can imagine that a carbon tail makes a difference. I've pulled out the tail of my shorter Tiger (even older but not broken yet) and noticed that it has become quite loose, though the head is still strong... apparently.

[Floyd]

I used to break aluminium booms regularly;one a season !!! Stopped using them 5 years ago and not had any breakages since. (Use Amex Carbon Pro)

IMO carbon booms work out cheaper and make sails more stable;especially bigger ones. Give more peace of mind too. Dont think they are as light .(Amex arent anyhow)

I`ll never go back to aluminium booms. Lets face it we stopped using aluminium masts years ago ???

[Farlo]

One more advice please. I've found a NP X6 200-250 and a North Platinum 170-220. The North is more expensive but a lot stiffer/lighter and would cover most of my sails. My dealer tells me there is no problem to use a full carbon boom at its max extension but I'm still hesitating. On my biggest sail I need 2.20 for rigging and then 2.16 max for sailing. Do you thing it is OK and will not affect durability? Thank you in advance

Originally Posted by Farlo

One more advice please. I've found a NP X6 200-250 and a North Platinum 170-220. The North is more expensive but a lot stiffer/lighter and would cover most of my sails. My dealer tells me there is no problem to use a full carbon boom at its max extension but I'm still hesitating. On my biggest sail I need 2.20 for rigging and then 2.16 max for sailing. Do you thing it is OK and will not affect durability? Thank you in advance

not sure what you mean by rigging max, but if sail max 216 and your boom is 220 max, you should be fine. I would check, just in case, if boom is wide enough

[Farlo]

Hi Sergio, I need some extra length to plug the cambers on my Naish GP. The North may be a bit short so I will check anyway. My question was more about sailing with max extension. I've been told to keep a margin of ~20 cm on aluminium booms. Carbon is much stiffer of course, however I would not like to break such a beautiful piece of hardware.

[Farlo]

Hi again, finally I took the NX-Black as I could not find a long enough (and cheap enough) used carbon boom. This leads me to another question: why is carbon so expensive? For instance today Nautix carbon's are TEN times more expensive than their basic alu booms. In the past the price difference was not so huge. Moreover older booms are looked for because "they were putting much more carbon at the time".

The usual explanation is "high demand from emerging countries" but this sounds like BS. Carbon is one of the most abundant material on the planet and there is no way we'll get ever short of it. I suspect the current price level to be greatly artificial because we have been convinced that carbon is sooo much better and we are ready to pay a lot more. I know this is an old topic and my purpose is not to complain, however do you have any idea of the reason(s) why is carbon so expensive?

I know everybody thinks I`m Mr Cynical but dont think the price has anything to do with the cost of production.... Its to do with what the market will stand... There is no way on earth a carbon boom can be worth £800+ but if sailors are willing to pay it then it will be asked !!! But if carbon booms last so long manufacturers will go out of business..... Planned obselesence and all that....

Plus .... My knew Amex Carbon isnt as stiff (or heavy) as my 5 year old one... Perhaps they will start breaking more now ????

[Jean-Marc]

How much do you think your carbon boom is flexing under load while windsurfing in real life ?

Check this video out to discover how the tail of a NP X9 boom is bending under load :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=0y87AgBBxMo

Quite impressive indeed..., especially considering that the sail is quite small (i.e., Overdrive 7.0 m2) with a boom lenght < 2 m long.

Other boom's tails look like stiffer than other, especially one with white/black/red stripes...:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=zakHJEje9OQ

Cheers !

JM