Say my boom clamp was set too tight because things got readjusted when taking things out of storage, and you were a beginner and was in a hurry to get out sailing, and you clamped down on an older 100% carbon 460 mast, and the mast cracked under the clamp, and you sailed on it anyway without issue, could that mast be repaired?

Hi Kenny

A big NO! By fixing the damaged area (proven that the repair is strong enough) the additional fiber will modify how the various stresses apply and are distributed to the mast (downhaul, outhaul, rider weight, wind, chops, etc.) creating a different weak spot.
Once the mast is damaged, failure risk is too high. Go direct to trash. Sorry for your loss.

Go with skinny masts, KP. The wall thickness of skinny masts makes them more bomb proof. Here's some shots of my slip-less, scratch-less, skinny mast set-up with Aeron boom. I use a Maui Sails shim for extra protection against point loading. It won't slip at all even with minimal clamp tension. After several seasons you still can't see any marks on the mast.

Can't repair it, but see if you can get a new lower piece.

Also - I'd use the upper as a GoPro pole. Works real nice to get in close without getting your body close. (assuming its a skinny)

Kenny,
The safe answer is no, but, in principle it's possible to repair the mast. The problem is that if a mast fails when you're on the water, it can put you in a difficult and potentially dangerous position. I broke a mast on Lake Michigan in NW wind. A broken mast can shred your sail quite badly. Even if it doesn't you'll be left without any motor. I made it back in safely, thanks to help from Alan and Andrew, but in the process the waves smashed my board on the rocks. I managed to save the extension, base, boom and board, but the the broken mast and sail had to be jettisoned so that I could get to shore (somewhat) safely.
Similarly, a second hand boom broke unexpectedly and put me in another tough spot (not quite as bad, but still ruined my session and almost shredded my sail).
If you're sailing at a place like wolf lake, and don't mind taking a chance on shredding your sail, you could try to fix it. I'd be wiling to try and help fix it if you'd like. The danger is that you might get it to work for a while, and forget that, even though it seems fixed, it shouldn't be trusted.
A repaired mast could potentially be a good mast for ice sailing or skate-sailing where the gear gets abused anyway, and there's no danger or getting 'stuck'.
As recommended by Reid, skinny masts are pretty cool. Some Skinny masts can be mixed and matched (tops and bottoms) to accommodate a large array of sails with fewer masts. Check out the Ezzy website's 'mast configurator' for example. I got geared up with SDM when I started WS, but have switched to RDM as I extend my range to smaller sails. As Reid suggests, they are more resistant to cracking from boom clamps - just make sure to get a shim that PROPERLY fits your boom. If the pad of the boom doesn't sit flush against the shim over it's whole length, get a different shim or grind away the parts of the shim that interfere. If the boom pad doesn't sit flush, it can create super point loads on the mast, and highly leveraged loads on the boom head (snap!). Most people don't have an issue with this.

Otto wrote:

Yep, here's an early version of a Aeron boom head. That red part sticks out and forced ya to use their shim. Note the hard plastic sides of the shim.




I think it was only the first year it was like that. They've since gone to a taller head and changed the inside. As seen in my previous post above. And the Maui shim I believe is the only one tall enough to fit it if you want that total rubberized grip.

Well Otto posted that 9 months ago, so I guess he has solved his problem by now
Anyway I'm for all RDM myself. I would recommend SDMs only to people with big race/semi race sails who are after top speed. In general RDMs are softer overall /which I like/ and the longer ones-460/490-tend to overbend sooner when the wind picks up which limits the top end of the rig somewhat /same thing with lesser carbon content SDMs/-you know the moment when the sail draft shifts way back and you have to push with your front arm like crazy to avoid being rounded upwind and slammed under the sail
I started to like the big Retros adjustable heads , since they allow me to use a longer/stiffer mast without any extension down, along with the additional stabilization that the 7 battens provide.
In the pic: my new hot Retro 7.5 downhauled to max on a 490 Gulftech RDM /amongst the mess of my garage/



awaiting it's baptizing

Nice sail! Maybe if Reid can tell us when Clinton is warm enough to to sail you can take it out for a sail there soon.

Nah, not going anywhere farther then 1hr drive from home. I'm not as adventurous anymore as I used to be

You look pretty adventurous in your picture

Drew

Andrew Scheidler wrote: I wish This picture is from my favorite show: "How I met your mother" -the scene where Ted imagines how Robin and Gael /Enrique Iglessias/ make sex on a windsurfing board. It was hilarious

They didn't bother to downhaul the sail though