JakeNN said..

thedoor said..
I am probably going to purchase a narrow alloy boom tomorrow

If you would like any seabreeze opinions (and occasional facts), then let us know which one you are buying :)

big fan of the chinook pro alloy so probably just going to go with their rdm version

F45 will fix all forearm fatigue issues....

27mm round .. sorry but that is not a good option. there are thinner booms for the same money. check some other aluminium booms.

Not good ....

The Chinook Sailing Reduced Diameter Grip (RDG) 135-195cm Alloy Boom is 2mm smaller than our standard Pro-1 Alloy booms.
Specs 135-195cmGrip Diameter: 27mm - 1 1/16"Weight: 6.0 lbsInside Width: 37cm1 year warranty

Forearm fatigue may be due to slippery grip when wet. Besides soap and water, a good scrub can work too with some sand paper or just wet beach sand.

Then, there's technique where power needs to be applied with the harness. So out of harness we just steer and not pull. (Check lines position, length, etc.)

A correctly tuned sail can be driven with finger tips. When in the harness we can also push with front arm instead of pulling with back one.

Stretch and ice when resting, great for tendinitis too :)

I prefer smaller grips too (rig feels lighter). You can shave your existing grip down to near bare tube if you want.

JakeNN said..
27mm round .. sorry but that is not a good option. there are thinner booms for the same money. check some other aluminium booms.

Not good ....

The Chinook Sailing Reduced Diameter Grip (RDG) 135-195cm Alloy Boom is 2mm smaller than our standard Pro-1 Alloy booms.
Specs 135-195cmGrip Diameter: 27mm - 1 1/16"Weight: 6.0 lbsInside Width: 37cm1 year warranty

Ever occur that not all hands are the same size, larger diameter or smaller may fit the hand sizes better worse?

JakeNN said..

Manuel7 said..
You can shave your existing grip down to near bare tube if you want.

nice idea .. what is the best method to do this? sandpaper?

Yes dry. Coarse works. I have a used boom whose regrip was super thick, sanded it down a lot. On the contrary my severne boom has very very thin grip.

Hooksey said..
F45 will fix all forearm fatigue issues....

Sitting outside watching?

Manuel7 said..
Forearm fatigue may be due to slippery grip when wet. Besides soap and water, a good scrub can work too with some sand paper or just wet beach sand.

My session yesterday on one of my older booms definitely highlighted the importance of grippy grip. Immediately felt increase work load in the forearms while pumping. A tolerable but noticable difference

So I can clean my old boom grip by a scrub with soap and water, makes sense probably lots of mud and sun cream in the old one.

Anyone else tried sanding their boom grip to revitalize it? Probably more coarse sand paper?

olskool said..
^^ When I regrip a boom I use sandpaper 120~240 grit to remove the overlap. Doesn't need much pressure. Sanding lightly will improve grip. But remember it's only 1.2mm thick.
I'm a V Grip fan. Make it from HD EVA,About 6~8mm tall and 20~25mm wide sand tangential to boom circumference. This can be contact cemented directly onto an existing good condition grip.( hasn't fallen off in 18months trial.)
Or for the factory look, contact cement it to the bare boom n cover with grip of your choice.
Has made a big difference to forearm fatigue for me. Fingers are jointed not round.
The V grip pulls into the fingers more n spreads the load across Palm n fingers. Works for me. Happy sailing.

OK cheers

I am gonna try a light sand for sure and may consider the home made v-grip. Did you just put on the front half of the boom?

olskool said..
Make it from HD EVA,About 6~8mm tall and 20~25mm wide

Any suggestions of where to buy?

Didn't shave the Severne, got it used tho.

JakeNN said..

forceten said..
Ever occur that not all hands are the same size, larger diameter or smaller may fit the hand sizes better worse?

I have never heard of anyone complain about a boom grip that is too skinny .. but keen to hear if someone has had a bad experience.

Sure - my hands are XXL+ and for me the best boom ever was the old Fleetwood Composite Oval but the WH Gorilla Boom was a close second. The Chinook RDG is nicely made but definitely more tiring to use than standard diameter. Haven't tried current oval designs yet. What matters just as much as cross section is plan geometry. Booms with a lot of curve right up front in the modern style seem to be less tiring than ones where the curve is distributed more generally.

It's always good to read a current thread on booms.
Go for state of the art if you can afford it. My Severne wave boom is magic.

But aren't 'Vee' grip booms a bit over-rated?
I had one and found it heavy compared to round tube booms, and I didn't notice any of the alleged user-friendliness when hanging on. The round tube booms are definitely lighter, in a strength to weight ratio test. The key is not the Vee shape but a smaller diameter tubing.

The smaller diameter booms are obviously nicer to hold than bigger tube arms, especially in the transitions.
Once you've had a smaller diameter carbon boom you don't go back.

Watch out too for the arm 'grip' or covering used. A good boom grip is soft to touch but also hard wearing - and with the material not adding too much extra diameter to the carbon boom tubing.

If you still use aluminium booms then think again. They last two years max - before sagging and eventually breaking - so they are good when new but don't stand up well to regular longer term use. .

thedoor said..

Faff said..
Could your arm pump be wetsuit related?

it might be a factor but its the same wetsuit I have used for 5+ years,and its cold where I sail so going without is not an option. The big change is the increased sailing time (cause foiling isn't half as tiring as windsurfing) and the increased unhooking while "riding swells" on the foil. I imagine wave sailors unhook much more than bump and jump sailors and foiling I seem to unhook more than I do while windsurfing (bump and jump).

I am probably going to purchase a narrow alloy boom tomorrow as we need to replace an old one. Will report back if it makes any difference

Old suits are stiffer. Forcing blood into your cold forearms compressed by a stiff wetsuit takes more effort than maintaining blood flow of already pumped up forearms. What has worked for me (3 times now, so the clinical trials are over): while driving to your spot, drink an electrolyte drink like Hydralyte, and use a cheap grip trainer to get your forearms pumped up. (Now don't turn this into a workout, because like POTUS said, we are born with a finite amount of energy... like a battery. Needless activity just depletes this battery. So better use it doing something fun. Like windsurfing.)

sailing with the hands on top of the boom with the thumbs on the top side of the boom and not underside, try if, it feels weird but you stop using the underside of your fore arm muscles.