Lately on the forums {iwindsurf, SB and the auzzie one} there have been discussions about "nose protectors". They started to make me wonder whether they actually did anything to save one from a "nose job".
This is obviously what we are trying to avoid !! {foto from the board lady}
So, I wrote to a local rep, Bruno of 2-rad. He makes me smile because he is so matter of fact. He says if you take 170 liter board out in over 25 knots of wind and do a few catapaults, you are bound to bust a nose. Either yours or the boards. He says the protector will protect the rider, butt not the board. He used the analogy of protective bags in the car. In an accident all the cushions will protect the people, but not the vehicle.
Have seen other people and discussions about boom sleeves/bras, mast base pads and the such...There are those strange animals called deviators, but they just make me nervous. How much stress can a mast track endure ?
Somehow I get the feeling these issues are just a fact of life. You ride dangerously and risks or personal and equipment injury goes up.
One can start with the boards covered in foam like the AHD ZEN and i have seen polyethylene boards like the BIC Techno that seem to survive almost all minor incidents and still look almost new. Everyone seems to consider these boards "okay", but lacking in performance.
I have learned to live with chips in my fins and repair them during "downtime". My AHD FF 160 is very "sensitive" and looks beat up. It still rides really well and planes up quickly.
So, as i said earlier, i just learn to live with it and take the risks.
However, the "board lady" says to avoid the rigid nose -pads, but YES do get the padding and here is an example:
In the comments the Canadian guy, back from Provenance, swears by deviators and pads.
Bruno says the deviators pull on mast track and cause delamination.
Yvan of AuVentFou says deviators are "passés".
This is obviously what we are trying to avoid !! {foto from the board lady}
So, I wrote to a local rep, Bruno of 2-rad. He makes me smile because he is so matter of fact. He says if you take 170 liter board out in over 25 knots of wind and do a few catapaults, you are bound to bust a nose. Either yours or the boards. He says the protector will protect the rider, butt not the board. He used the analogy of protective bags in the car. In an accident all the cushions will protect the people, but not the vehicle.
Have seen other people and discussions about boom sleeves/bras, mast base pads and the such...There are those strange animals called deviators, but they just make me nervous. How much stress can a mast track endure ?
Somehow I get the feeling these issues are just a fact of life. You ride dangerously and risks or personal and equipment injury goes up.
One can start with the boards covered in foam like the AHD ZEN and i have seen polyethylene boards like the BIC Techno that seem to survive almost all minor incidents and still look almost new. Everyone seems to consider these boards "okay", but lacking in performance.
I have learned to live with chips in my fins and repair them during "downtime". My AHD FF 160 is very "sensitive" and looks beat up. It still rides really well and planes up quickly.
So, as i said earlier, i just learn to live with it and take the risks.
However, the "board lady" says to avoid the rigid nose -pads, but YES do get the padding and here is an example:
In the comments the Canadian guy, back from Provenance, swears by deviators and pads.
Bruno says the deviators pull on mast track and cause delamination.
Yvan of AuVentFou says deviators are "passés".
I've used a deviator for 10 years on my big 148l board and it works well. I've never broken a mast foot, mast track or the nose of my board. It does make waterstarting a wee bit harder though.
ReplyDeleteOn my 108l board, I have a foam strip glued on the nose - I put it on after the first full nose repair, and it has also worked well. A couple of times after a catapult I've looked at the compressed part of the foam and watched as it rises back into shape - I'm sure those would have been expensive repairs.