Saw this on the internet has anyone used one, any idea on prices, reliability? They make a pretty big claim of the strongest mast.

www.slake.co/

I'd love to support a local manufacturer, but they're far too exy @ $1100+. An 80% carbon Simmer RDM comes in around half that price. Sadly, that's probably the reason many masts are made in Asia.

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N1GEL said..
I'd love to support a local manufacturer, but they're far too exy @ $1100+. An 80% carbon Simmer RDM comes in around half that price. Sadly, that's probably the reason many masts are made in Asia.

And that's probably the reason many expensive famous name windsurfing masts are developing a reputation for snapping like twigs, exposing owners to difficult warranty claims, damaged sails, lost time-on-water, and the risks of being stranded out at sea.

These masts look very high quality, and for the same price as a carbon boom are probably worth the money if they are more break resistant that some of the cr4p coming out of Chinese factories where masts are built from emailed specs and where the concept of quality control hasn't yet caught on.

don't know the brand well but last month a good mate rigged his sail and while he was putting his harness on the brand new slake snapped just like that.

Not all masts are made in China. Checkout the NoLimitz brand of RDM high carbon masts from the USA: www.nolimitz.com/products/ These guys have been producing quality constant curve carbon masts for years, though most of us don't recognise the name, they've also been making Goya and Ezzy masts for years.

I've checked out their team riders and found that by using a combination of the stiffer bottom from the SUMO with flex top from the SKINNY it makes these masts more compatible with most types of sails on the market. NoLimitz masts are also represented in Australia.

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WindsurfSystems said..
Not all masts are made in China. Checkout the NoLimitz brand of RDM high carbon masts from the USA: www.nolimitz.com/products/ These guys have been producing quality constant curve carbon masts for years, though most of us don't recognise the name, they've also been making Goya and Ezzy masts for years.

I've checked out their team riders and found that by using a combination of the stiffer bottom from the SUMO with flex top from the SKINNY it makes these masts more compatible with most types of sails on the market. NoLimitz masts are also represented in Australia.

Yes that right. Always happy my masts have "Made in USA" on them. Not as inexpensive as the Asian made stuff can be, but I am happy to pay the extra and support quality manufacturing, especially for offshore sailing.

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seanhogan said..
don't know the brand well but last month a good mate rigged his sail and while he was putting his harness on the brand new slake snapped just like that.

Oh dear...

Surely this stuff shouldn't be happening in 2015!

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N1GEL said..
I'd love to support a local manufacturer, but they're far too exy @ $1100+. An 80% carbon Simmer RDM comes in around half that price. Sadly, that's probably the reason many masts are made in Asia.

Simmer masts are not made in Asia they are made in Europe.

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legless said..

N1GEL said..
I'd love to support a local manufacturer, but they're far too exy @ $1100+. An 80% carbon Simmer RDM comes in around half that price. Sadly, that's probably the reason many masts are made in Asia.

Simmer masts are not made in Asia they are made in Europe.

Schweet... even better then. Thanks for elucidating Gareth :)

Pity they don't make RDMs

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legless said..

N1GEL said..
I'd love to support a local manufacturer, but they're far too exy @ $1100+. An 80% carbon Simmer RDM comes in around half that price. Sadly, that's probably the reason many masts are made in Asia.

Simmer masts are not made in Asia they are made in Europe.

Agreed. maybe a bit of false info in this thread

NoLimitz make good stuff (anyone ever broken an Ezzy RDM...??) in USA, and lots of top masts are made by that Italian mob

Not much would actually be asian crap (?)

I own 3 slake masts. Had them for about 6 months. Very nice, and happy with them. Brett Morris is the man behind slake, from Sydney and a very accomplished slalom and formula sailor. The masts are excellent construction/build quality. Light weight. Made in Sydney by CST yacht composites people. I believe the slakes are popular with the PWA slalom and formula sailors.

Shhhhh. Don't tell everyone steve.
Slake are the fastest.
I haven't broken one yet

Its a pity that they cost more than any other mast.

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WindsurfSystems said..
Its a pity that they cost more than any other mast.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys

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jn1 said..
Pity they don't make RDMs

They should have a RDM mandrel, ask Brett. When I was retailing Avanti, CST did have a RDM product so they could make you one if you wanted. However it's not really their thing. Slake is more racing orientated which is generally big SDM.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Review/Slake-Masts/#1500092

CST RDM 400/19

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Steve1001 said..
I own 3 slake masts. Had them for about 6 months. Very nice, and happy with them. Brett Morris is the man behind slake, from Sydney and a very accomplished slalom and formula sailor. The masts are excellent construction/build quality. Light weight. Made in Sydney by CST yacht composites people. I believe the slakes are popular with the PWA slalom and formula sailors.

+1

I've also got rid of all my brad name SDM masts and got 4 Slakes. Very happy with them, better curve bend, cam rotation and hardly any marks from the cams. They're custom made, not mass produced. They can be also customized so I ordered one stiffer mast for choppy conditions.
They are actually not that expensive as there's a discount for oz customers. You just need to talk to Brett, he is very helpful.

I've recently seen a friend of mine breaking 2 brand new masts of another brand in 2 weeks and would rather pay extra for a better quality. His masts were replaced but new racing sails end up with holes. Plus I wouldn't like to swim for 5 km to come back.

I have 4 masts made from CST, 3 Avanti and one Slake. Got the Avanti masts 3 years ago and have no issues with them. I believe they are the best on the market I have ever seen.. And the Slake I got off Brett was a custom bend profile to "tweak" my sails as I like a little softer twist from my Avanti Sails.
They are completely computer controlled manufacture including assessing each batch of fibre for it's properties before manufacture so exact requirements are duplicated each time..
I bet they will outlive any other mast on the market..

There is a big difference between the durability of SDM and RDM masts. Pretty much all SDM masts are compromised in durability by the thin walls when made in 100% Carbon.

On the other had, Most 100% Carbon RDM masts are very reliable and durable, especially those made by manufacturers who have been in the business a while and have good quality control.

Unfortunately, although a few sailmakers have made excellent progress in making RDM's work in bigger Race/Slalom sails, ultimate performance in this class of sail is still obtained with SDM masts. In the KA Koncepts the turning point is around the 6.6m to 7m size. Longer than 430cm masts and you are better off with a good SDM. I don't think we have even tried to get the Race sails working on RDM's, but on the smaller 5.5m and 6.3m it would be worth a try if the cams can be accommodated.