so i had a pretty good sesh tonight, powered up easterly was a good chance to try out my longer lines, which did seem to help my upwind performance.

however, i have sad face.

after about an hour of sailing i saw i had a large crack in the nose of my relatively new 123litre hawk. i'm not sure, but it likely happened when i grabbed the boom too far back during a duck and did a catapult.







the board is still hard around the crack and doesn't give any when i give it a good squeeze. strangely the top crack doesn't meet the dent at the nose which travels underneath the board.

my local isn't open tomorrow, but monday, i'm taking the battered girl in to get looked at. might have to dust off the flow if it blows tomorrow night...

Nasty

The pain!!!!

However a good repair and will be as good as new

I see a trip to Sydney in your boards future.

Dust off the Flow and Go,Go,Go!

Hi Trousers

That happened to me today. I did a big F.O. catipult when a gust hit me when offbalance. I now have a nice dent on the nose of my board (not cracked thank god).

I have ordered a "boom bra" from a local W/S shop. Collecting it before the next sesh will be the priority I reckon :). Do you have a boom bra ?

Ja
(no bee stings today)

Hey biscuit,

good to hear you're keeping away from those nasty stinging insects!

i got a boom bra that just sits over the actual clamp. the irony of today is that i got new harness lines recently that are a lot longer than i usually sail, which meant the boom today was alot higher. if i was sailing my old lines, the boom clamp probably would have been the impact point.

that crack is from the mast methinks. i might need a boom-bra that covers the mast below the boom, which a mate showed me today. it may or may not have stopped the crack, i'll never know.

still, the lines were a great improvement, and these things happen. i was on my game today; my session had lots of high-speed planing, lots of good gybes and a sprinkling of chop hops. and at least i got another board to sail on in the meantime. so I'm not bitter.

cheers,
Crowded Trousers

Good work :). A while ago, I used gaffa tape and wrapped a whole bunch around the nose. I am going to start doing that again as well. It doesn't look cool, but it's an extra measure.

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Trousers said...
I'm not bitter.

Good attitude, Trousers!!! Sh1t happens, it is said.

I have tried a "Jez's knob", which should also protect the nose in a catapault, but it's a hindrance for water-starting; you have to swim the mast over the stern every time. I've given up on it, and trust in the padded mast thingy. I guess in a major crash, nothing will prevent damage; you might even take out your mast track.

Yesterday's session was all the sweeter, because we (about 12 of us) shouldn't have been on the lake at all. Elevated levels of blue-green algae. The water police came by and "strongly urged" us to vacate. "Thanks for the advice, kind sir".

Today, I can't seem to concentrate, and I've noticed this strange rash . . .

Was ready just in case, but the easterly didn't get to lake Jindabyne. Does it ever? Just checked the obs, I missed a beauty.

I'd just pack on a bit of Selleys knead it Trousers. The main thing is to be ready for tonight's easterly. Won't be any uglier than my Fanatic.

How you feeling Bristol? Can I tell the water police you said it was OK?

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Ian K said...

The main thing is to be ready for tonight's easterly.

well, it don't look like we'll be getting any easterly action tonight. if it does, my second weapon of choice, the trusty Flow, will get dusted off and have to step up to the plate. the poor girl's seen some action, she got a nose like Tyson's but she still hammers when powered up.

Yeh what's going on, watching the obs, doesn't look like it will get here. Might have to take the dog for a walk.

So you've got time for a better repair now. I'd had an even bigger split on the nose an old board, epoxied a bit of carbon cloth tape over it. Sailed many more miles, never gave any more trouble. Not pretty though, from a distance it passed as a GT stripe.

Trousers,

After close inspection of the photos, I can confirm that it is indeed a crack you have there.

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i'm not sure, but it likely happened when i grabbed the boom too far back during a duck and did a catapult.

Prease exprain, how did you manage to catapault while doing a duck gybe??

I'm trying to picture it but I can't, and I do have a rather wild imagination...

[}:)]

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Wet Willy said...

Prease exprain, how did you manage to catapault while doing a duck gybe??

so in the duck i do the rig flip and haul the sail back to me with my forward hand. for a second i don't have hold of the boom at all as it comes back to me. being a bit of a n00b at the duck, i get eager and grab the boom too early, and not close enough to the mast. as it was a very powered day, i've instantly got a lot of juice in the sail and when i should have just let it go, i've held on in pitiful hope that i can recover. now i have hold of a boom at the wrong end with a fully winded sail bearing off the wind. the sail pulls me off balance and i remember going violently over toward the nose. i let go, and when i think about it, the mast was tracking pretty much straight toward the nose of the board as i disappeared underwater.

Trousers,
If it's not the head of your boom that's making contact with the nose of the board but the mast a little lower down you could try and get hold of an old mast protector.
These were designed to wrap/clamp around the bottom of the mast just above the uni joint to prevent damage to the rails/deck of the board when the mast was dropped while sailing.
- Most new sails now have this extra/additional padding in the sail

A mate of ours kept taking the nose off his board this way despite having a boom bra.
We simply turned the old mast protector upside down and attached just below the boom on the front of the mast/sail... no more cracks... although he did mange to snap the nose clear off attempting a forward onto near dry reef (or so his story went )

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Trousers said...

Wet Willy said...

Prease exprain, how did you manage to catapault while doing a duck gybe??

so in the duck i do the rig flip and haul the sail back to me with my forward hand. for a second i don't have hold of the boom at all as it comes back to me. being a bit of a n00b at the duck, i get eager and grab the boom too early, and not close enough to the mast. as it was a very powered day, i've instantly got a lot of juice in the sail and when i should have just let it go, i've held on in pitiful hope that i can recover. now i have hold of a boom at the wrong end with a fully winded sail bearing off the wind. the sail pulls me off balance and i remember going violently over toward the nose. i let go, and when i think about it, the mast was tracking pretty much straight toward the nose of the board as i disappeared underwater.

Ah. so...but it's not really a catapault unless you're hooked in, is it?

If you're going to do something, do it right!!!!!!

You can hit the nose a lot harder and faster if you utilise the full power of the catapault!

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Wet Willy said...
Ah. so...but it's not really a catapault unless you're hooked in, is it?

If you're going to do something, do it right!!!!!!

You can hit the nose a lot harder and faster if you utilise the full power of the catapault!

Wait, you mean you're meant to unhook in a duck gybe? Hmm, that may explain why I've been having so many troubles with the rig flip...

But I stand corrected as to my definition of a catapult. Touche!

And Windwarrior, I have borrowed a protector just like you have suggested. Fingers crossed it saves the day next time.

Is it a green flow? and how many litres? I still ride one and love it (green 93 ltr)

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Bondalucci said...

Is it a green flow? and how many litres? I still ride one and love it (green 93 ltr)

Blue and 105l.

It's a damn fast board powered up and I'm yet to ride a board that banks into gybes as eagerly and predictably. The only reason i don't sail it much anymore is because I moved to a place that doesn't really have consistent winds so its "old school" narrow profile doesn't give me the early planing I now need.

Oh, I've also put on about ten kilos since I bought it, but I'm sure that's unrelated. *ahem*