Boom length

[nonopr]

Hot Ice:
Windsurfing in a remore location, overpower and in cold water is foolish, not the boom been extended to the a safe setting as the manufacturer says.. Get a Partner and then you can windsurf in those conditions.

[Roger]

Hot Ice has it right.......
Sure, you can use almost any boom at it's full extension.....any time you want.
And, you can expect the boom to work adequately from fully collapsed to fully extended.
BUT....
As HotIce suggests, there are times when it's not risky to extend your boom fully....
if it breaks, you can easily and safely get back to shore.
There are other times where the conditions (windspeed, steadiness and direction;
air temperature; currents; any other factors) aren't favorable to easy "self rescue".
For these situations, you may want to think a little harder about the risks involved.
A broken boom, well offshore, in offshore winds or currents, in colder temperatures, can quickly become a "life threatening" situation.
Once you've been in such a situation, you learn to evaluate the "risk factors" somewhat differently to get as many of them in your favor as possible.
Not saying your fully extended 240 cm boom is "dangerous" but then again it's your life that's at risk.

Originally Posted by nonopr

Hot Ice:
Windsurfing in a remore location, overpower and in cold water is foolish, not the boom been extended to the a safe setting as the manufacturer says.. Get a Partner and then you can windsurf in those conditions.

Please think of the audience here and their safety. Are you suggesting that a manufactures boom extended to its full length is safe in all conditions and that a sailors weight is irrelevant.

When there is snow on the road I drive slowly even though the speed limit is higher.

[feuser]

A boom extended to it's maximum length should be safe otherwise it is not really it's maximum length but has exceeded its maximum length as it cannot be used at that length. My boom did not come with a warning saying if I am fat or if it is cold don't extend it past a certain percentage of the maximum length.

Originally Posted by feuser

A boom extended to it's maximum length should be safe otherwise it is not really it's maximum length but has exceeded its maximum length as it cannot be used at that length. My boom did not come with a warning saying if I am fat or if it is cold don't extend it past a certain percentage of the maximum length.

My 6.9 m sail did not come with a warning saying do not use it in a severe gale. I guess the manufacturer thought I would have some common sense.

IMHO it is naive to suggest that a boom is safe at it’s maximum extension regardless of the sailors build and sailing conditions.

I am amused though that some people would unquestionably put their safety in the hands of a boom manufactures maximum extension.

[Per]

Theres a lot of difference between useable and good. During the last ten years I've broken eleven aluminium booms of different brands ;-) I've now switched to Maui Sails (still aluminium) and I've bought a boom to compliment each sail so that the boom will be extended as little as possible( max 2 cm). I've never broken any of these (yet) and the stiffness is superior to a fully extended boom. I sometimes see beginners buy one boom to cover t.ex. their whole 5.5 to 7.8 range with one single boom. It's possible, but it will mean (no matter the brand) that sailing fully powered/fully extended on the 7.8 it will be difficult to get the best of the sail as the boom will flex more thus decreasing the authaul leading to more drag, more flex etc. = useable but not good...