Is a boom just a boom?

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Back on planet Earth!

In the performance road bike frame world there has been a resurgence in latest alloy technology to rival the previous dominance of composite construction. Good well designed and constructed alloy frames now can rival many run of the mill Chinese carbon frames both in weight, and, more importantly, in liveliness of feel.

The essential point with composite structures seems to be that the fibres should be aligned with the primary load paths, with sheer loadings carefully calculated and allowed for. Given the history of windsurfings introduction of carbon fibre booms, (using the consumer as test pilot, or Guinea Pig more like) , how can we tell the grade of composite used (not to aero standards I should imagine) and the correct orientation of fibres for the loadings? The broken expensive carbon boom I had fail was clearly a 'weak' design.

As for performance with smaller rigs and booms, in strong winds and surf, can any ordinary sailor really feel a difference between alloy and carbon booms, when struggling near the limit of their ability? Some of us prefer the known reliability of alloy at such times.

[jingebritsen]

i sail lots in florida.

all salt water.

when first introduced, carbon used to be freaky light. they broke a lot. that was decades ago. now they are much heavier. they break far less.

i have one carbon for my 9.0 and larger. aluminum for everything smaller.

aeron booms are pretty darn good.

since you've sunk very little in the sport, your cost average per item will only go up. yet, that's a luxury, since you can start the true purchasing rationale like this: if i have 6 booms = COGS of ZERO, then an $800 top of the line one means i've only spent roughly $114 for each....

carbon is great. the last thing i would spend $$$$ for it is base extensions. the most important: masts; second, fins; third board constructions; 4th booms. sails only can have carbon tubular battens, so they aren't on the list for most of us. sails are right up there in the food chain with fins though....

[coachg]

I'll second the Aeron boom. I have the slim wave boom that replaced my Gulftech skinny wave boom. I bought my Gulftech in 03 or 04 for $350 and a it still works great. Aeron cost $640 and is even skinnier, stiffer & lighter. I could have saved $400 and bought aluminum but then I would have had to tolerate the extra weight & thickness. I could do that a couple of times but day arter day, week after week, month after month? I don't think so. In the long term the additional $400 is more than worth it for me.

Coachg

[swchandler]

I'll chime in again, only because many here have had such great luck with aluminum booms. I have to envy them for getting away with things on the cheap. For me though, booms have been the one windsurfing component that I have a long history of breaking so readily, and it's always happened at the front end. If there was any aluminum involved, even if it was hidden, failure almost always happened eventually (usually within a couple years). Unfortunately, if it happens way outside, and the wrong side breaks, the risk of ripping your sail flipping the boom around is a likely outcome. That happened to me at the Bay of LA in Baja better than a half mile out, and no one else was there. Fortunately, although I ripped the sail in the boom flip, I was able pull it off and limp in. That event was the end of aluminum booms for me.

Even after moving to carbon Gulftech booms (the ones made in Corpus Christi, TX), the aluminum front ends plagued me with failure. Yet, I loved their booms, and I still have all pieces from all of them. Ironically, I bought a small used Intruder from Micah B's brother in Maui quite a few years ago, and I'm still using it today for my two smallest sails. I even love the bigger diameter arms. Just because it came from Maui doesn't mean it's bad.

Since switching to 100% carbon booms with no aluminum in them, I've only broke one, a Gulftech Glory boom, but I got 5 solid years on it. Fortunately for me, it didn't break off entirely. I noticed a wobbliness, and like Kevin Kan suggested, after removing the rear end extension, the carbon tubing on one side was nearly sheared off and barely hanging on. You couldn't see the problem with the rear end attached.

I've still got a Hawaiian Proline that I bought in 2004, and a Maui Sails Wave that I bought in 2007. I retrofitted the HP with the Maui Sails front end boosting the performance integrity of the boom hugely. It's great having carbon booms that I can depend on, and I'm never going back to the old days where boom failure always haunted and tormented me.

When it come to aluminum windsurfing components, the only ones I feel confident using are mast extensions.

[GURGLETROUSERS]

Many obviously agree with your viewpoint S.W.C. I bought two expensive carbon booms 8 or 9 years back, a long one and a short one, both from the same company and model range. The long one snapped off at the head as stated, and examining its internal structure showed why. I still have the short one which was for higher winds and smaller sails, but no longer have any confidence in using it. (Same internal structure I should think.)

I would pay a premium price for a composite carbon boom which was built of the highest grade aero-space industry materials, which had been designed by highly qualified composite engineers. Obviously it would be very expensive, but with reasonable care in its use, it should last virtually a lifetime. (Opinion about longevity of composites is divided, but many experts do believe that properly used carbon composite can have almost an indefinite fatigue life span.)

Interestingly, some companies are taking composite construction very seriously. The Specialized bike company have collaborated with the Maclaren F 1 engineers in producing one of their latest carbon bikes. ( I've just bought that model.)

While alloy booms DO have a finite fatigue life, I always feel that there are subtle warnings when they start to reach that stage after extended use, and need to be dumped. That does, at least, keep me from excessively worrying when far out to sea. (We have to have SOME comfort blanket to cling to!)

[dcharlton]

Go with new aluminum, it's priced right and reliable. For some reason, I've managed to break every piece of equipment except for the booms (smashed at least 6 masts, ruptured tendons, head through sails, snapped harness lines, broke harness roller bar a half mile offshore conditions in Aruba) but NEVER the booms and I'm a big boy at well over 200lbs.

I tried the carbon booms but the price just didn't seem to be worth it compared to what I could get with a new chinook aluminum.

Heed the advice on the forum, never sail where you can't swim back, no matter how good you are, you will always be at the mercy of your equipment and it never fails where it's supposed to fail.

DC

[rtz]

Inside the front half of the boom; what exactly is being used for that 2 piece aluminum looking plug in there?

https://postimg.org/image/rsmh5gxdf/

[carl]

It's a grey plastic foam plug, not aluminum.

As for breakage, I've broken both aluminum and carbon but in salt water aluminum is much more common to break.
Usually one arm breaks and you can often (carefully) sail the the other side back in (after tying up the loose tail piece). You might have to take off the boom and flip it over depending on which side broke.

[jingebritsen]

foam plugs allow air to remain trapped in boom. helps it float when one has the rig in the water.

[swchandler]

I would think that closed-cell foam inserts are being used to fill all the vacant space that isn't needed for rear end adjustability, thereby minimizing air spaces filling with water during use. I've seen that in adjustable rear end assemblies, especially given the holes needed for adjustability.

I could be wrong about the boom arms, but I would think that it might be difficult to establish an efficient seal deep into the boom arms over time. The last thing you want is having the boom arms fill with water that can't drain easily.