Was happily sailing along yesterday when all of a sudden the plastic pins on the snap collar of my chinook 48cm RDM extension sheared off effectively making my 30cm extension slide all the way up into the mast (thought I'd initially snapped the extension). I do sail in open ocean so the forces on extension probably greater than normal. Definitely not brand bashing here as I use a lot of peripheral chinook gear (deck plates, unis, extensions) and have found then to be the best around. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else using these newer snap collars to their Chinook extensions.




Snap collar and one of the sheared pins


Video of the snap collar FYI

Yep! just ordered a replacement, probably should order a replacement for the replacement also!
keep forgetting to email Chinook, its a pretty lame design and piece of engineering, the pins should really be attached to a S/S collar thats embedded into the collar, or the plastics need to be sorted to a much stronger capacity.

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Jonesysail said..
Yep! just ordered a replacement, probably should order a replacement for the replacement also!
keep forgetting to email Chinook, its a pretty lame design and piece of engineering, the pins should really be attached to a S/S collar thats embedded into the collar, or the plastics need to be sorted to a much stronger capacity.

Cheers jonesy - $35 for replacement a bit steep!

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sausage said..

Jonesysail said..
Yep! just ordered a replacement, probably should order a replacement for the replacement also!
keep forgetting to email Chinook, its a pretty lame design and piece of engineering, the pins should really be attached to a S/S collar thats embedded into the collar, or the plastics need to be sorted to a much stronger capacity.

Cheers jonesy - $35 for replacement a bit steep!

plastic is expensive! :)

same happened to me a while ago with that setup, thought the mast had snapped too !! Nice catapult.
7.9 4 cam sail with 38 extension, out large at sea.... in deep sh!t... boom low down and 30 cm of sail in front of the mast

No way I could sail back, had to call the sea rescue to come and get me...

Bought the old version collar, (hard plastic with a hinge), felt safer

Also had the same issue, on a brand new chinook extension that came with a set of rental gear last year, the guys in the shop said they'd seen it happen a few times and swapped it for an older one

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seanhogan said..
same happened to me a while ago with that setup, thought the mast had snapped too !! Nice catapult.
7.9 4 cam sail with 38 extension, out large at sea.... in deep sh!t... boom low down and 30 cm of sail in front of the mast

No way I could sail back, had to call the sea rescue to come and get me...

Bought the old version collar, (hard plastic with a hinge), felt safer

yeah it was a very interesting sail back in.......boom 30cm lower and not enough downhaul Am just going to grab a pin and collar or hinged collar as you have noted Sean.

Looks like we can brand bash for this specific item too

I have this Extension too. I bought mine via mail order (no local shops) and I did feel a bit concerned about this part when I received it. Pretty disappointing, sounds like it's only a matter of time....
Chinook should deal with the issue not make more profit out of a substandard part. I'll be speaking about this to the shop I purchased my extension from. I hope others do too

Thanks for the heads up Sausage. Just brought a new Chinook extension. Removed this collar and put an old style collar on as I need to go down to 4cm, but will throwing this collar away since it's a proven POS.

BTW: Nice knots. But, why don't you use the nettled bag in the foot of the sail to store the excess downhaul rope ?

Chinook has (had?) some problems with the plastic they use. I have a large bag of Chinook boom collars where one of the two pins broke off. Replacement parts are quite expensive. Rumors have it that the issues have been solved perhaps a year ago.
Fortunately, I never had an issue with Chinook extensions. The boom collars are no big deal, since they hold for a few sessions with just one pin. May even be better to have the pins break than have the holes get wider over time.

I see the problem , first photo the sail is obviously a Ezzy.
he has no team riders , for feedback so his sail has a direct impact on component part.
laughy funny face lol haha

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boardsurfr said..
Chinook has (had?) some problems with the plastic they use. I have a large bag of Chinook boom collars where one of the two pins broke off. Replacement parts are quite expensive. Rumors have it that the issues have been solved perhaps a year ago.
Fortunately, I never had an issue with Chinook extensions. The boom collars are no big deal, since they hold for a few sessions with just one pin. May even be better to have the pins break than have the holes get wider over time.

Set of boom clips/ collars range from $12-27 USD.

And the next thing to watch for is the rusty pulley pin. That has a worse effect, when it snaps off, you loose all downhaul.
Although you can get most of it back threading the rope through the webbing loop.

I'm going out now to check on my RDM extension. I've only used it once, no idea what it is.

Yep, that's what I've got, so where do you get the older version from?

A few options here Mike www.surfsailaustralia.com.au/products/Windsurfing/Bits-and-Pieces#surf-sail-clothing-hardware

Thanks Rob. But I have a worry here, looks like the hinged collar is designed for the ally version, I've seen ally pins wear the holes in carbon booms, and eventually they slip.
That's maybe why they went to plastic?

Think I'll give Mark a ring and see what he says.

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jn1 said..
Thanks for the heads up Sausage. Just brought a new Chinook extension. Removed this collar and put an old style collar on as I need to go down to 4cm, but will throwing this collar away since it's a proven POS.

BTW: Nice knots. But, why don't you use the nettled bag in the foot of the sail to store the excess downhaul rope ?

Re: the downhaul rope: just habit JN1 - it only takes me 5 seconds and I only need to undo half hitches to pull it all undone (hard to explain but it's a folded loop with the end of rope through loop which falls apart when derigging).

BTW - I approached Chinook and they are sending me an old style pin and ring. They stated "Actually the snap collars test much stronger that the Pin and String collar" so I think it could be worthwhile sending them an email to alert them to the issue. As you noted I wouldn't recommend using the plastic snap collar if you normally sail far from shore.

Decrep, nah that pulley still has 10 years left in it

Forceten -ezzy not even close. It's a Loft Racing Blade

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sausage said..
Decrep, nah that pulley still has 10 years left in it

Well I've had ones that look just like that give way, the rust is worse in side the join, and the pin gives way on one side, and the other arm just bends and comes out of the webbing loop.

I've jut had a reply from Mark of surfsailaustralia. He says, chinook went to the polycarbonate pins, to prevent any corrosion problems, so I guess it's a toss up. If you go to the ally pins, be good idea to rinse them out after every sail. Or just remove the collar.

Galvanic Corrosion ?

Yes I guess so. I don't think stainless/carbon is as bad as ally/carbon, but It's probably still there.

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sausage said..

jn1 said..
Thanks for the heads up Sausage. Just brought a new Chinook extension. Removed this collar and put an old style collar on as I need to go down to 4cm, but will throwing this collar away since it's a proven POS.

BTW: Nice knots. But, why don't you use the nettled bag in the foot of the sail to store the excess downhaul rope ?

Re: the downhaul rope: just habit JN1 - it only takes me 5 seconds and I only need to undo half hitches to pull it all undone (hard to explain but it's a folded loop with the end of rope through loop which falls apart when derigging).

BTW - I approached Chinook and they are sending me an old style pin and ring. They stated "Actually the snap collars test much stronger that the Pin and String collar" so I think it could be worthwhile sending them an email to alert them to the issue. As you noted I wouldn't recommend using the plastic snap collar if you normally sail far from shore.

Decrep, nah that pulley still has 10 years left in it

Forceten -ezzy not even close. It's a Loft Racing Blade

Didn't know anyone else used the bottom tension strap

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forceten said..
Didn't know anyone else used the bottom tension strap

I thought everybody did