I catapulted the mast into the nose of the board.

Is it a writeoff? I don't think I'm ready for an skillwise, so I had probably have to replace it. Before the Guy Cribb course, I put a deposit down for today. :) Can anyone recommend someone for a repair job in Melbourne?

I probably got a bargain when I bought it for my old man a few years ago.

Have a look for some of the board repair threads here, that damage is about 1hr on each of a couple of evenings to fix. Well, to be watertight. To be pretty also, you can double it.

If the course is really soon, you could get away with lots of gaffa tape to keep water out (ie proper cloth reinforced 100mph race tape, not the cheap crap)

"Gaffer" tape. Just saying...

It can be repaired. Just did one on a friends board. Worked it out through reading heaps, especially of Mark's advice (thanks love the micro bubbles) and boardlady.com.

A tube or two of Knead-it should help hold it together and keep water out until proper repairs can be carried out.

Zak surfboards in Victoria road thornbury
Not a huge repair

That's not a write-off. No way. Plenty of life in the old girl yet.

Thats surprising. I took one look at it and thought 'no way!,. Good that it's fixable.

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7tim said..
I catapulted the mast into the nose of the board.

Is it a writeoff? I don't think I'm ready for an skillwise, so I had probably have to replace it. Before the Guy Cribb course, I put a deposit down for today. :) Can anyone recommend someone for a repair job in Melbourne?

I probably got a bargain when I bought it for my old man a few years ago.

Easy fix. Try Oke Surfboards Factory 1/ 7 Canterbury Rd, Braeside VIC. They do a good job

^^+1 they do a lot of this type of injury. I'm up to two noses so far.

I did the same a few years ago took it to a prof guy who did a really nice job that y couldn't tell it was a repair however a week after it didn't last so I Sanded it back and glassed over It ,get some wide sheets . It's still going strong .

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Mark _australia said..
about 1hr on each of a couple of evenings to fix. Well, to be watertight. To be pretty also, you can double it.

You can easily repair the board in a few minutes with some Paint

Did the same to my xcite within the first few months. Easy fix as mentioned above. I also bought a nose protector which saved it from happening again.

Just don't sail it in the meantime and lean it up on its nose somewhere warm to allow the water to come out.

A good knead-it job will only last until it cops another bump (which it will).

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Sailhack said...
Did the same to my xcite within the first few months. Easy fix as mentioned above. I also bought a nose protector which saved it from happening again.

Just don't sail it in the meantime and lean it up on its nose somewhere warm to allow the water to come out.

A good knead-it job will only last until it cops another bump (which it will).

Sailhack are the nose protectors good ? I've recently got some JP FSW's and because of the wide nose seem to get damaged easily.

Slightly OT, but Guy Cribb suggests sheeting in when going over the front like that. It takes some balls and is counter-intuitive, but it will land you on the leeward side of the board thus avoiding mast-to-nose collision.

P.S. Definitely fixable. Agree with others that you could just gaff tape it for a few days while doing the course. It'll be fine as long as you use waterproof tape.

All the best.

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2035 said..
Slightly OT, but Guy Cribb suggests sheeting in when going over the front like that. It takes some balls and is counter-intuitive, but it will land you on the leeward side of the board thus avoiding mast-to-nose collision.

P.S. Definitely fixable. Agree with others that you could just gaff tape it for a few days while doing the course. It'll be fine as long as you use waterproof tape.

All the best.

2035... any chance you can post a video of this strategy? (sheeting in when going over the front and landing on the leeward side).

As a beginner/intermediate i am very interested in this as i get catapulted constantly due to my addiction to speed and my relative lack of skill. If i can reduce the battering my nose takes, and the nose of my board, then that will be good for us both.

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Gos said...

As a beginner/intermediate i am very interested in this as i get catapulted constantly due to my addiction to speed and my relative lack of skill.

Gos, during your intermediate stage, try sailing with a front hand inverted grip. Like this guy:


It feels a bit kacky when you're not used to it, but, it's a much stronger grip than the normal over hand grip, and you'll have a lot more control of the sail. You'll be able to recover from a catapult as the sails starts pulling you over. When this happens, you pull this hand down like you are doing a one armed chin up. This depowers the sail and you can recover it.

As you progress, you'll use different grips for different situations.

Glad you've got your back sorted. I believe windsurfing is good for bad backs as it strengthens/conditions the lower body muscles that make them better able to support the back.