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PatK said..
No risk with the foam pipe on it

You mean the foam pipe on the mast, right? I had one, but since the same part of the foam pipe hits the board nose every time, the cells in the foam pipe get crushed quickly, and while it looks fine if you press on the foam pipe where it hits the nose you will feel it is soft and no longer springs back like when new. That is what happened to mine after a couple of hits, and then the mast started hitting the nose hard enough to dent it but not crack it. When that happens the mast will start to feel your hard nose cover. The deck pad I made has taken a number of hits, but probably never in the exact same place, and the EVA foam is much more dense than the foam pipe, and the thick layer of plastic covering on it spreads out the mast impact so EVA cells do not crush like the foam pipe cells. Without my nose pad, the mast would damage the outside edge of the nose on the rail, so if by some chance it did damage the nose through the pad I would see it. So what others have said about a nose pad potentially hiding damage is not true for my board and nose pad combination.

So if you are going to stick with a foam pipe mast protector, I would recommend replacing it, or moving it up/down or around, after every hard nose impact. And would also mark the old locations that had impacts so you do not reuse those spots on the foam pipe.

Under these full deck pads you do not see the cracks you get from the mast. On my 150 JP foilboard i had a EVA protector with hard layer on top from ION. But after one saison the nose was covered with cracks. With the laminated hard protector and the foam pipe i made best experiences. Was able to sell the board after one saison for nearly the same price i got the new board, thanks to the protection without any damages

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PatK said..
Under these full deck pads you do not see the cracks you get from the mast. On my 150 JP foilboard i had a EVA protector with hard layer on top from ION. But after one saison the nose was covered with cracks. With the laminated hard protector and the foam pipe i made best experiences. Was able to sell the board after one saison for nearly the same price i got the new board, thanks to the protection without any damages

Okay, whatever works for you. I have not gotten any cracks on the nose since putting on the protector, and it has been on since the Spring of 2019 with year round use in Florida. Though I do admit it has been a long time since I last catapulted.

It may be good idea to revisit and hear others experience about the Surfbent and get an update for alternate way of protecting board from catapults. As I remember some people liked it but others felt it may damage the mast track of the sail. I feel that Surfbent may work for most new foil boards as the current boards are becoming fairly short and more flat.

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SA_AL said..
It may be good idea to revisit and hear others experience about the Surfbent and get an update for alternate way of protecting board from catapults. As I remember some people liked it but others felt it may damage the mast track of the sail. I feel that Surfbent may work for most new foil boards as the current boards are becoming fairly short and more flat.

Short board and Surfbent probably a good pair, but have heard on this forum of a mast still damaging the nose on a board with a Surfbent, probably a longer board.

Instead of attempting to cushion the blow from the mast, the alternative is to make the nose stronger and more impact resistant. I bought my Alien 125 second hand. The previous owner damaged the nose in West Australian shore dump. He got it repaired professionally. The repairer replaced the end 200mm with high density foam encased in glass/carbon/PVC/epoxy sandwich. It's incredibly strong and has survived a number of catapults. I don't specifically know the layup used but it works. Maybe there is a lesson in this for board makers.

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John340 said..
Maybe there is a lesson in this for board makers.

I second that... it would be possible to make a board (almost) undestroyable!:

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eightbft said..

John340 said..
Maybe there is a lesson in this for board makers.

I second that... it would be possible to make a board (almost) undestroyable!:

Yes. We all want inexpensive and light boards. Good luck doing that with Dyneema fiber.

I was finally able to learn the foam sheet this race foiler using to protect his board. He is inserting a sheet of 6mm Extra Thick EVA Foam under the sail at the level of where mast could hit his board during catapult. You could get this foam sheets at Amazon. However, I am not sure if that will be sufficient to prevent damage based on previous discussions. He does not have a damage so far but I have never seen him falling.

Bit expensive option to pipe foam. But relative to a broken mast or cracked board? D30 or IXS. The soft "ballistic" shock absorbing material used in motorcycle, mtn bike, and skate body armor. Use a set of IXS brand knee and elbow pads designed for mtn bikers when esk8. Gone off a few times. Stuff seems to really work. Laying on the ground the thought hit the dinged brain. Impact pads the slip into pockets on a wetsuit for windsurf foiling, impact vest, why not in helmets......

Not sure the how it works. No hardshell on the pads. Just an abrasive resistant kevlar like material. Supposedly under impact it "hardens" and distributes the force. Proven tech for motorcycle and mt. bike protection. Very low profile. I wear under trousers and hoodie on cooler days. Stealth mode. Looking "normal" vs. old geek kook.

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OldGuy3 said..
Bit expensive option to pipe foam. But relative to a broken mast or cracked board? D30 or IXS. The soft "ballistic" shock absorbing material used in motorcycle, mtn bike, and skate body armor. Use a set of IXS brand knee and elbow pads designed for mtn bikers when esk8. Gone off a few times. Stuff seems to really work. Laying on the ground the thought hit the dinged brain. Impact pads the slip into pockets on a wetsuit for windsurf foiling, impact vest, why not in helmets......

Not sure the how it works. No hardshell on the pads. Just an abrasive resistant kevlar like material. Supposedly under impact it "hardens" and distributes the force. Proven tech for motorcycle and mt. bike protection. Very low profile. I wear under trousers and hoodie on cooler days. Stealth mode. Looking "normal" vs. old geek kook.

I use something similar for MTB, the ballistic kevlar is for abrasion resistance when you take a slide, the gym mat EVA foam is the best I have found and cheap too, but putting around mast is not easy because it is so stiff, maybe it could be formed to stay using straps and laying out in the sun?

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John340 said..
Instead of attempting to cushion the blow from the mast, the alternative is to make the nose stronger and more impact resistant. I bought my Alien 125 second hand. The previous owner damaged the nose in West Australian shore dump. He got it repaired professionally. The repairer replaced the end 200mm with high density foam encased in glass/carbon/PVC/epoxy sandwich. It's incredibly strong and has survived a number of catapults. I don't specifically know the layup used but it works. Maybe there is a lesson in this for board makers.

yep , i cut the nose off an old board and put on a 1 inch block of 80kg pvc .
i have had some big crashes hitting fish at speed hooked in with big sails ; the glass layer is crazed but no dent in the pvc. .
previously with a hit like this there would be some decent damage .