New Mast=New Tuning

After a couple of years on various Taaroa wings, all on the 95cm fuse and 80cm mast, I finally was able to acquire their 97cm mast and give it a workout over both the 2000 and 1250 freeride wings. I've been on various longer masts before - the IQ 95 and of course 91 Slingshot but this was very familiar gear except the spar itself. I was amazed at how much more effortless it was to ride but also puzzled by how the new geometry affects tuning. My 32" harness lines are suddenly WAY too short for one thing. The universal wants to be a couple of cm further back and the boom felt pretty high as a result.

I don't find the board much quicker to fly but MUCH less susceptible to drop down in a lull - it seems like I was still foiling at not much more than a fast walking pace. Much easier to jibe as a result, too.

The 97 mast is very very heavy, even by the standards of Taaroa which is normally much heavier than other full carbon setups, but the weight penalty isn't really noticeable except on shore. It does seem very stiff. Im looking forward to trying it with the HA 1050 freerace wing.

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BullroarerTook said..
Did the fuse change as well?

Not really - it's a new 95 cm but the same model as the old one which was starting to really corrode (and I was replacing helicoils every other session). No complaints - it had a LOT of use.

I'd be curious to try the 105 but the Taaroa 95 gives wing positions similar to the Starboard 102 or 105 so it's a pretty good all around fuse for anything except racing.

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Paducah said..
I have no idea how you've gotten by on an 80cm mast for so long. I've done it in a pinch but have to be super mindful of the height. Rode an 85 the other day (I'm usually on 95s) and breached a wingtip in a hard jibe which had me dialing back for the rest of the day. You'll really enjoy the difference. I wouldn't give the extra weight a second thought (and it seems you haven't). Much better to have the proper stiffness. Really happy for you.

In the wing world, the thought is shorter masts are quicker to fly (less drag). If you aren't noticing an adverse change, I'd think all's good.

Is the need for longer lines maybe a result of the now higher boom? Only other thing that comes to mind is that is there a subtle change in mast rake between the two masts?

Thanks for those thoughts. Mast rake is fairly close to what it was so my thought about geometry is that the longer mast means a longer lever for the drag caused by the wing prior to foiling-up, meaning more downward pressure on the nose, hence the further back universal. At that point, once I'm up and foiling, as you suggest, the sail isn't raked back as much so the lines seem short.

You're absolutely right about ease of use - I frankly couldn't believe how much easier it was, although I knew I was struggling with jibes more than other sailors of similar skills, and I knew I habitually rode much lower than most other guys. Not only is the 97 much more foolproof to jibe, but I also spent much more time out of the harness, even pointing, because the effort was so much less.

I'd have switched much sooner if the damned things weren't so expensive - ultimately Tillo took pity on me and sent me a heavily discounted demo in decent shape, which I spent a happy hour smoothing out before taking on the water. Good thing I have lots of spare bolts in the van - somewhere in it's life someone had replaced the 6mm Tuttle barrels with 1/4-20!