I noticed my Neil Pryde boom made a couple of creaking sounds and got a little bit of play out on the water yesterday. Looks like it has some pretty decent cracks and a layer of glass over the carbon? Some smaller cracks on the other side too. Is this normal?
My plan atm is to grind out the cracks and laminate with woven carbon and epoxy.
Anyone seen this before?

Looks like its been repaired before .
Hard to say what kind of damage is there .
If you bulk enough glass over the area it might work but the boom head may not fit.
I wouldn't head out onto water without knowing if its fixed properly .

That's what i thought at first, especially because of the black paint, but the glass goes a long way down the boom and there is an obvious "joint line" (black line) both sides of the boom as well

Not sure why they would make a boom in two parts, if thats what theyve done. It looks like a weak point which may have started the cracks both sides.

hi guys i had the same boom with the same issue i bought it with a crack near the clamp used it for a while till the crack got too big, then i striped it down to find just like yours as much glass as carbon ,sent pics to neil pride asking what 100 % carbon means ,they didn't like it and got a bit pissed wanting to know chapter and verse where i got it because it might be a copy year right,any way back to the boom ,i diagonally wrapped mind with 2 layers of 100 % carbon cloth and 1 of light woven glass ,using epoxy resin ,the glass wears better ,i then got a Maui boom head they have a larger diameter boom clamp ,you might need to add more glass to get a good fit ,wrap thin plastic around your wet lay up and and fit your new head to get a good fit ,remove as soon as epoxy has started to set ,then when dry sand any unwanted resin that has squeezed out ,it might take a couple of goes to get right ,mind has been good and i'm 140 kg ,till i broke the tube ,again sleeved and wrapped that also ,best thing about carbon booms you can fix'em

Fin heads will creak - as they are articulating after all.

It is a kinda sacrificial glass layer, if it was just carbon it would wear too quickly.

Wrap it with 2oz cloth and epoxy, sand back smooth.
Reinstall head, and worries over.

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Mark _australia said..
Fin heads will creak - as they are articulating after all.

It is a kinda sacrificial glass layer, if it was just carbon it would wear too quickly.

Wrap it with 2oz cloth and epoxy, sand back smooth.
Reinstall head, and worries over.

After your board repair Mark, I'll believe your instructions.

It was definitely feeling looser when i used it. So decided to try and repair. Ground back the glass this arv, was about 1mm thick all around. Should give me room to put 4 layers of 200gsm carbon and maybe a 4oz glass layer. Carbon uni delaminated under the glass, so glad i did sand it back. Definitely needs a proper repair.
Construction not great around this area with hodge podge of glass and carbon and even small voids. I can't confirm if this is a genuine NP boom as i got mine second hand as well. Thin piece of carbon at front for looks over 1mm glass!

It is an X9 NP. Had same problem after many years of use but crack was slightly further down the boom. Luckily not where your front hand goes. Stripped back the grip. Wrapped with wetted out carbon cloth strips. Sanded and still going strong.
You can stick some 3m clear Sup rail tape under the boom clamp mount to help as a buffer.

left field suggestion - try carbon repairer specialising in bicycle carbon frame repairs

I had my mountain bike repaired few months back (in Perth) and was very impressed. they even lay the fibres to match the original weave and claim repair is stronger than original. So far no issues at all

Cost wise it made sense for me but I'm not sure if a boom is worth it.

I have that same boom as well. Bought it when the grip was wearing off and was looking like s***. So I peeled off the old grip sanded it smooth (took forever). I notice that line half way down the grip all the way around the boom too like in the picture minus the crack. Did not notice mine cracking yet.

Mine also looks like the back 3/4 or so of the boom where the tail connects there is a visible line showing where it marries up to the rest of the boom, seems dum to make them that way. I got water stuck in it somehow and could not get it out figure there is a wall at that point of the boom, anyone have this issue??

Let us know how the boom holds up after a season sun fisher. What size is your boom?

i found a picture of my old Neil Pride boom that had a cracked head issue back in 2013 later it also had split along a manufacturing seam which i had to wrap in carbon then later on it snapped on one side where the repair wrap had finished that's when i sleeved and wraped the break again and carried on using the boom

My X9 boom had a similar crack near the head, wrapped it with carbon fibre and taped it up tight to get a clean finish been good ever since

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oldSpeed said..
i found a picture of my old Neil Pride boom that had a cracked head issue back in 2013 later it also had split along a manufacturing seam which i had to wrap in carbon then later on it snapped on one side where the repair wrap had finished that's when i sleeved and wraped the break again and carried on using the boom

I can see the problem .........someone threw a dirty big knife at it , no wonder it split

Round 2!
Had a massive catapult last friday and managed to break my harness lines and the boom in 2 places...
Pretty surprising how variable the layup is in this boom. When i sanded the break in the middle you can see it was super this on one side...

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sun fisher said..
Round 2!
Had a massive catapult last friday and managed to break my harness lines and the boom in 2 places...
Pretty surprising how variable the layup is in this boom. When i sanded the break in the middle you can see it was super this on one side...

How bad should it get before it's retired

I can't give advise on this repair but am sure Mark has an idea. Best of luck!

Hard to believe the variation in the tube layup from a verified boom by an industry leader. This is why anyone with one or more Fiberspar Booms is hard pressed to let go of them, that's if they stop sailing them at all. I'm still using late 90's Posi's for 4.2 - 7.2, and slightly newer standard grip for larger sails, some rebranded for NP. Suggest grabbing any one you find on IWindsurf or elsewhere.

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thinman said..
Hard to believe the variation in the tube layup from a verified boom by an industry leader.

manufactured 20 years ago.

you cant compare anything with current products .. whether better or worse.

And with the ragged edges of the carbon in that photo, you can't see the edge clearly to make much of an assessment. Might just be a sharp edge making it look thin or thick.

Thanks guys. Not really looking for repair tips. Just surprised at the variation in thickness.
Not sure how old it is, and i definitely didn't treat it lightly. But makes the thought of forking out $1000+ for a new one a bit off putting.
But maybe new ones are better?