Has anybody else managed to crack a 100% Carbon mast?

It's only a few months old. I thought they were fairly indestructible (compared to alu)?

Hi Miles,

The C100 is quite a strong mast and I am surprised you were able to break it. Generally the best way to discuss these these things through your dealer or local distributor. I'd love to know more given the age, as it is very uncharacteristic of this mast.

I'll send you a DM to discuss if you wouldn't mind.

Kind regards,

JB

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MilesH said..
Has anybody else managed to crack a 100% Carbon mast?

It's only a few months old. I thought they were fairly indestructible (compared to alu)?

How did it happen? (For fellow wingers to know and try to prevent..)

I cracked two carbon masts, but it was in the early experimental days.

- On one the outer layers delaminated on the mast, peeling away.

- On the other, cracks appeared at the brass nuts in the tuttle head. Carbon is very sensitive to junctions with other materials or sharp angles. Nowadays the design of the ends of carbon masts seem to have reduced a lot this risk.

Carbon is strong in general, but VERY weak in face of repetitive stress or hits on hard objects (E.g. Titanic submarine :-) ). I would avoid stressing (flexing) a carbon mast as much as possible, as you kind of eat away its life expectancy in an undetectable way.

See all things that can degrade carbon fibers:
carbonfibergear.com/blogs/carbonfiber/carbon-fiber-durability

Seen commonly in windfoil
Fixable no probs but good on wingenuity for engaging proactively in warranty

carbon fiber is stronger and stiffer than aluminum. But material is only 1/3 of the story, along with design and manufacturing. Looks like this mast suffered from compression failure due to large bending moment. You can see the fibers buckled. Carbon isn't as strong in compression as it is in tension, but it's still stronger than aluminum, if adequate wall thickness. Here's a blog entry I wrote about the use of composite materials in foil masts if you'd like to better understand the technical details: projectcedrus.com/general/solid-mechanics-composites-101/

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MProject04 said..

MilesH said..
Has anybody else managed to crack a 100% Carbon mast?

It's only a few months old. I thought they were fairly indestructible (compared to alu)?

www.seabreeze.com.au/img/photos/wind_wings/20377559.jpg' />

How did it happen? (For fellow wingers to know and try to prevent..)

No specific event that I know of other than contact with a sandy sea bed a few times. It is worth noting that I had it shipped from the US to the UK but no obvious signs of damage on arrival.

Big shout to JB and Naish. A replacement under warranty was agreed in less than 48 hours after JB posted on this thread.

After sending proof of purchase and a few more pics of the mast (incl serial number) a new one was shipped out straight away.

I've been with Naish since the start of my foiling journey and they have always stood by their products and any issues have always been sorted quickly. In a fast growing sport where we the consumer are often the guinea pigs it's good to know!

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BayAreaKite said..
carbon fiber is stronger and stiffer than aluminum. But material is only 1/3 of the story

Also, they have a very different behavior:

Aluminium, like all metals, suffers from fatigue: any stress will weaken it a (very tiny) bit, and this "fatigue" accumulates over time.

Carbon fiber do not suffer from fatigue: they can stand stress (flex) virtually forever stress without any damage... as long as it stays under the threshold where micro-delaminations begin to appear and can then accumulate and lead to catastrophic failures down the road.

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MilesH said..
Big shout to JB and Naish. A replacement under warranty was agreed in less than 48 hours after JB posted on this thread.

After sending proof of purchase and a few more pics of the mast (incl serial number) a new one was shipped out straight away.

I've been with Naish since the start of my foiling journey and they have always stood by their products and any issues have always been sorted quickly. In a fast growing sport where we the consumer are often the guinea pigs it's good to know!

Naish also promised to send me a new mast under warranty after JB's help.
Thank you very much JB.

Jb covered me with immediate support better than I expected after a mast issue. I'm super happy with the replacement.

Naish is very attentive to its customers and are liberal about their warranties. I find them reputable and dependable

Naish is very attentive to its customers and are liberal about their warranties. I find them reputable and dependable